Tales of a Dreambender
by LadyPhenyx
Summary: A collection of one shot short fictions for the Transcendence AU, ranging from serious to silly to excerpts from Trashy Romance Novels (aka fanfic of fanfic). Each chapter/one shot will have a summary at the beginning of the chapter along with appropriate warnings.
1. Paranormal Research Agency File – Subjec

The Paranormal Research Society, emboldened by their previous successes in summoning and binding demons for research purposes, tries their most ambitious summoning to date - Alcor the Dreambender. Warnings for suggestions of violence.

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><p>The candles were in place – unscented, as even the most basic of research said Subject 24601, known by the name 'Alcor', the Dream Bender, the Twin Star and a host of other titles all listed, tidy and neat, in his file, couldn't stand the scented ones and would at times simply leave the circle as soon as 'he' smelled them.<p>

The summoning circle had been gone over three times by three different teams to ensure all the marks were correct, as had the binding circle – the strongest binding circle of enslavement that had ever been created, said to have even held Izolelp the Ever-Hungry, Devourer of Nations, at the height of 'his' power.

The electric generator was humming, poles it was connected to sparking and ready. The crystals and iron were placed precisely along key points of the circle, cameras placed to record every angle, the cold iron and binding rune engraved restraints and holding cell ready.

Now all they needed was the demon.

Years of research and capturing lessor demons for the government all lead up to this moment. There could be no foul ups, not now.

The candles flared, smoke billowing inside the circle. Blue flames swirled and rose, Alcor the Dream Weaver emerging from within the depths.

He opened his mouth, about to speak, when the circle he was in appeared to register.

His eyes widened and the agent in charge hit the switch, activating the sprinklers. Holy water poured out of them, showering down over the room and its occupants.

Alcor shrieked, the sound piercing though all their ears and making a few faint as he tried to shield himself from the water, gold sparks flashing and sizzling with each drop that hit the demon.

The sprinklers shut off and the generator kicked to life, moves synchronized on lessor, easier to confine demons. Alcor screamed again as the posts sent electricity through the circle, hitting him with enough electricity to kill a human and driving the demon to his knees.

The electricity stopped, the room silent save for the occasional drip of the sprinklers and Alcor's harsh breathing.

The chains were thrown, enchanted to seek out the demon, manacles closing on thin wrists and the collar round the demon's neck, the other ends snapped into the staples driven into the star's points to bind him.

Alcor raised his hands, staring at his chained wrists in shock as the agents relaxed, beginning to celebrate. He hissed softly but they ignored him, used by now to the demons they captured angrily ranting or screaming once they'd been captured. Between the holy water, electricity, binding circles, and engraved manacles, they could rave all they wanted, but they weren't getting free.

Alcor hissed again and the lights flickered in response. The agents stopped celebrating, running to check the binding circles for weakness, readying the sprinklers and generator for another hit.

The lights shorted out as one, going out in a dramatic flare of sparks that showered over the agents. In the darkness Alcor's eyes glowed in solid gold, gold lines of brickwork tracing over the void–dark form of his body, darker than the pitch black of the room, lit only by the gold of his eyes and lines and the faint lines of the binding circle.

"H̴̗̣͍̳͕̪̫̤̽̇̽̓̆͌̊̋̀͞ͅo̫̺͍̯ͧͮͩ͞w̨̳̟͈̗̮͂̾̐ͤ͛ͣ̿́ ̟̝̖ͨ̐̀d̳͓̯̪͈̮̤̋̐ͩ͂͐͒ͪͥͅȁ̧̳̝̗̳͉̙͋̃͊̇́́ͅr̟͓̅̾ͪ͌͒̾́ë͏̦̟̦̦͈ ̡̰͗ͪ̀͢y̢̡̜͖̺͚͊͂̂o͎͇͕̼̭͍̣̘͙̍̽͞u̢͖̹̼̬ͥ̓͛?̑̈̋͂̾ͪ҉̨͙̯͙̹̩̩ " he demanded. "H̛̘̼̘̟̤̤͓ͮ͋̏ͯͧ̆͗͞͝O̬̜̬̙ͩ̾͗͊ͅͅW̗̜̲̬ͮ̑̈́ͨ͊ͮ͗̅͝ͅ ̴̢̼̙̪̟̋̈̃ͫ̆̔͟D̡̲͔̉̉͊ͫ̃̓͋A̷͖̗̩͙ͤṚ̨̧̳͚̥̹̦́̾̚Ȩ͔͕̜̤͑ͥͭ̔ͭ͋̚̚͡ ̷̶̥͇̘͉̒͋̔͑̂̑͒̎͘Y̴̻̙̙̪̮͔͎̓̎ͥ̈̈ͭͭOͨͨ̈́͏̼͔̝̲̳͇U̝͍͉̬ͮͥ̃̃ͭ͆̓ͮ͒?̧̬͎͆̄̾͋̓͂̈́̄͊͠ "

Blue fire flared up against that void blackness around the manacles and collar, tracing their runes and edges, cracking in lines of blue fire before shattering with a sharp crack louder than a shotgun blast.

He hovered over the ruined remains of his former bonds, the circle trying futily to bind him before flickering, sparking, and finally dying.

The doors locked, blue fire sealing them closed, and Alcor snarled as he held up razor sharp claws.

"Ỵ̷͔̫̘̟͓͈̬̎͂̒͟ǒ̦̩̺̬̦̂ͧu̶̸͖͍͕̯̗͈͎͈̓̒͐ͩ̓ͬ̉͐͝ ̼̱͈͓̣̪̥ͮa̡̖̩͖̗̭̝ͬ͂͊̅̓ͨ̃r̵̠̬͈̪̭̖͍̝̟ͭ̒e̫̩͓̪̽ ̼̮̮̟̞̱̹͉̿ͩ̀́p̴͔͔͎ͫ̉ͭ̎͋ͭͩl̎̓ͩͨ̔ͪͮ҉̧͚͖̭̗̰͔͓͞a̮̳͕̳ͤ̌̐̄ͦ͢͞y̹̥ͪ̀ͨ̈͟i̴̲̞̫̝̫̭ͤ̆̋n̫̫͖̄ͣ̀̿̆͐͌̑͞͝g̞̼͈͈̍̓͗̋̀͠ ͂͊̋͝͏̱̝͎w̩̻̰͖̦̄ͤ̓ͨ̇͘͢i̴̢̙͙̠̞̪̰̹̙ͬ͂͊ͯ̍ͥ̈ͥ̚ͅt̪͖͍͓̬̓̆ͬͣͨͥh̙̹̥̤̪̤͋ͦ͐ͤ̊̓ͥ͜ ̛̬̮̹̄́̄̈ͮ_F̜͔̟͇͍̄̃ͣͨ̕I̞̘̰̻̜̻̽͂́ͨ̍ͮͅR̭͙̤͉̠̗̣̅̈͑ͣͮ͢͞Ȅ͖͎̗̱̣ͬ̈̈ͦ͆͛͞._"

_Addendum note to file on Subject 24601, Alias Alcor_

_Do not again attempt summoning under any circumstances. May hold grudge._

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><p>I realize the zalgo's a little hard to read - for the curious who can't make it out, it says "How dare you," "HOW DARE YOU", and "You are playing with <em>fire<em>". Requests are open at the moment on my tumblr, .com, though I can't guarantee anything.


	2. In the Arms of the Demon King

The first Trashy Romance Novel excerpt I wrote and posted.

Romance Novel Heroine X Alcor

Not to be taken seriously. At all.

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><p><em>She knelt at the edge of the circle, begging for him to appear.<em>

_The priests were wrong, she just knew it. He wasn't evil, he could love, and he loved her. They didn't know him the way she did._

_The circle sparked and flared, smoke boiling up from the center and obscuring it from view._

_When it cleared, he knelt there shakily, still weakened, and she threw herself into his arms, weeping._

_"They nearly had you!" she wept into his strong shoulder, strong arms tipped with sharp claws coming up to hold her closer._

_"No binding or exorcism could keep me from you," he breathed into her hair. She looked up into gold on black eyes, her own overflowing with love._

_"Please, how do I make you well again?" she asked, eyes overflowing still with tears, glittering in the flames of the dying circle. "I'll do anything."_

_"Oh my love, you should know by now not to say such things to a demon," Alcor said, tapping a clawed finger against her lips._

_Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and she moaned shamelessly as she clung to him, hands sliding down his back to his wings, stroking over where they joined his back, reveling in the power she held over this most powerful of demons when he moaned at the contact into her mouth…_

Mabel stopped reading, laughing too hard to keep going.

Dipper's eye twitched, and he was visibly trying not to be ill. "I…wait…what…ow."

He fled into the dreamscape as Mabel started reading again, ignoring her protesting, "Bro-Bro, get back here! I didn't get to the good stuff yet!

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><p>These are like writing candy for me. Things are really bad lately and these make me giggle, so I have no regrets.<p> 


	3. Doubly Forbidden

Another Trashy Romance Novel excerpt. They basically dared me to write this by asking about novels detailing the illicit affair between Alcor and The Woodsman. Alcor X Woodsman

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><p><em>"Devil," he growled, "Demon, beast…"<em>

_Beneath him Alcor grinned, the grin of sharklike teeth that both repelled The Woodsman and drew him in as a moth to the flame. "You knew from the start what I was," he said tauntingly, drawing a claw down The Woodsman's cheek._

_The Woodsman groaned, propping himself over Alcor, who lay spread below him, eyes glinting wickedly, tauntingly. Doubly forbidden, both demon and male, and doubly irresistible._

_Growling, he dug his fingers into Alcor's brown locks, and their lips met in a bruising kiss. Claws dug into his back, and he retaliated with bites to Alcor's neck, the pale, demonic skin bruising and bleeding under his teeth, Alcor hissing with pleasure at each bite. Determined to hear that dark, demonic voice crying out for him, The Woodsman ground down against the hips he pinned to the ground…_

Mabel paused, looking up at her husband and brother. Both wore nearly the same shell-shocked expression, though only one of them was flickering in and out of corporeality.

"I knew you two loved each other!" she chirped.

Dipper disappeared, and Henry held up a finger. "If he pukes, I'm not cleaning it up."

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><p>I am a very slow writer. This was the fastest I ever wrote something. Don't care, still fun.<p> 


	4. Dominating the Demon

aka y'all need to stop tempting me. Trashy Romance Novel excerpt based on this ask: Okay so instead of all the Alcor x anyone fics having Alcor as a dominating weirdo what if there was a Alcor x Woodsman story where Alcor is a little uke and blushes a lot and Mabel never EVER lets that story go and always brings it up to Henry and Dipper post/103235303553/okay-so-instead-of-all-the-alcor-x-anyone-fics-having

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><p><em>"Idiot," Alcor growled as he turned away from The Woodsman, a blush painting over his cheeks. "It'd be too much trouble to make a new minion, that's the only reason I saved you."<em>

_The Woodsman smiled, looming over the smaller demon. "Is that so?" He turned Alcor to face him, who refused to look up at him even as his blush deepened. A hand at the small of Alcor's back pulled him flush against The Woodsman's firm chest, and a finger slipped under his chin tilted his head up to meet The Woodsman's eyes. "Is that really the only reason?"_

_"W-Woodsman..." Alcor stammered, blush traveling up to the tips of his adorably pointed ears. His luminous, gold on black eyes slid closed as The Woodsman bent toward him, soft lips parted in anticipation..._

"Mabel, sweetie? I think you broke your brother," Henry commented. "And I'm about ten seconds from joining him in sweater town. Please stop. Where do you even find this stuff?"

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><p><em>I regret nothing.<em> Mabel traumatizing Dipper with these is too funny for me.


	5. Desperate Measures

Inspired by: One time Dipper gets summoned into what would be a really powerful binding circle - like he would have been enslaved to this guy properly if he wasn't part human. Instead he just waltzes across the lines and is ready to shred someone when the person in the cloak breaks down crying and it's this 15 year old kid that wanted to rescue her brother and/or herself from their abusers. Suddenly Dipper has a crying teenager on his hands.  
>post103286316133/one-time-dipper-gets-summoned-into-what-would-be-a

Warnings for mentions of child abuse and implied violence.

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><p>Dipper emerged from the center of the summoning circle, eyes ablaze, details registering at the back of his mind as he launched into the introduction he'd made standard for summonings.<p>

Dark basement, cloaked figure – only one this time, strangely enough – but a well drawn circle, probably the most perfect one he'd seen in a long time.

"W̾̓͂̽H̯O̖̖̮̩ͅ ̚D̮̻̘͎͎͔͒̏ͪ̂Ȁ͉̰͈͔ͅR̫Ḛ̬̙͎̯̽̏ͧͣ̇S͇̰̠̰̬̥ͬ̒͋̓̈ͧ ̤̼͎̺̖̌́̌ͬ̈̂ͅS̯͇͕̝̲̠̯͌̾͑̎͑̂̃U͚̰̗̹M̹̰̹̬͍͗M̖̰̬̲͐ͯ̊-͂ͫ͆͐ͩ̒ "

His normal demand was cut short as he got a proper 'feel' of the circle he was trapped in. A binding circle. A circle of enslavement. A perfect circle of enslavement, capable of trapping and binding even a demon as powerful as he was.

Almost. If he hadn't been partially human, it would have worked. As it was...

"Yͩ̉̔̔̈ͯ̚͏̩̮̹ͅÔ̼͖͍ͦ̊́U̶̝͚̤̜̙͔̓̈́͛̉̎̚ ̳̜͈̺ͫ̿W̃́͛͋̃ͭ͏̺̯̫̲̯̠͙̫̕ͅŎ̖̺̜̻̂͊̓ͩͩ͞U̶͍͉̲͎̠̱͕̼ͣ̅͋͐ͥ̍̀L̖̝̮̼̯͕͕̒̊̎͘D̛̗̙͈̯̭̤ͨ̄ͮͤ͘ ͒̂ͩ͏̭̮̞̩̤̤T̷̰̗̳̉ͧͧͣR̻͎͔̞̈ͥͥ͡ͅͅY̵̸͎̻̺̭̞̍̈́̓ͦ̌̍̃ ̘̞͇̿̍̎ͯ͂ͫͫ͢T͆̍̍̽͑̚͟͏̸̝̝̩̲̩̤O̴̡̡̳͇̩̪̭̺̱̯̳ͧ̋ͭ̎ ̸̜̤̜̠̝͎͙͊ͥͅE̢̎͛ͦ͝͏̰̱͓̣͍ͅŅ̺̮̹̼̣̻͙͇̋̌̽́S̟̭ͦ̔͌ͣͨ͡L̛̰͓͍̼̈͌A̪̪͒͐̑ͭ͌͡V̨̛͙͉͇̮͛̂̽ͣͥ͌E̷ͤ̉̎͒҉͎ ̶̝͖̲̺̺̘̥̎̔ͯͫ̋̈ͣ́͜A̡̞̜̮̫͉͉̲͌͐̆̃͆̂̋̕L̷̼̻͓͇͚̤͚̼ͦ̔͐ͤ̌̄C̼͎͖̯̏̓͋ͩ̔̏Ơ̝͙͑ͮͪ͌͗͘R͚̥̼͍̹̭̀́ ̹͎̞̳̟ͬ̃ͤͨ͒̚ͅT̛ͭ̒̈́̀͏̩̗̞̖H̳̘͙̦̹̖̘̑E̶ͦ͗̿ͣ҉̟̠̦̩̳͟ ̶͙̘̙͔̗̩̉̾͂͋́ͤ͡͞ͅD̢͎̬̲̣̋ͩ̃͜Rͨ̒̌ͭ̉̿ͣ̐̄͜͏̫̞E̲̫̝͍̱̻͕̟͊̉͆͞A̶͇̺̩̞͚̻̓ͣ̎̌̅ͣ̚ͅM̥̦͔͈̦̏̓̉͋͝ ̷̸̞ͪͮͤͭ̄B̓͂̚҉ͅE̴͙̹̤̣ͤ͆ͥ͊̈́ͤN̦̗̞̥̪̭͇̥̆ͩͮͮͧ̇́̒͒̀̀D͖̆͆͑͛̍ͩͮͤ̀͜E͔̹̩̲̝̜̿ͧ̇ͨ͟R̴̴̮̟̠͖̟̺̠̹̀̑̉ͤͬͫ̋ͬ̕?̡̳͍̺͎̮͇̦̗̑ͩ͂͗̂͆̄ " he roared, eyes blazing in fury more human form partially dissolving to the black of the void lit by hands bursting into blue flame. He landed, deliberately stepping over the circle's bounds, watching the cloaked figure stumbling away. The fear seeping from them was sweet, so, so sweet, and the demon part of Dipper reveled in it. They should fear, for trying to trap him, he would rip them apart and...

The summoner gave a little sob and Dipper paused, the sound barely registering over his fury. It sounded like Willow, or Acacia or even Mabel years ago...

Scrambling away a little more from the frozen demon, the cloak fell away from the summoner's face, revealing a teenager, a young one, one too thin to be healthy, with heavy bags under their eyes and lank hair falling around their face, a bruised and hopeless face, almost silently crying with fear, too afraid to make noise.

"Great job, Dipper, scare the crap out of a kid," Dipper muttered to himself, flames going out in an instant, resuming his usual mostly-human form. He glanced back at the almost professional – level summoning circle behind him and felt a little less guilty over it. "The kid with the perfect binding circle. Right."

"Okay, kid, spill," he said louder, gloved hand pinching the bridge of his nose. It was physically impossible for him to get headaches from things like this, but sometimes he could feel the phantom sensation of one. "Stop crying, I'm not going to eat you. Why the hell did you summon me?"

He floated back into the air, crossing his ankles and getting ready to wait it out, projecting a calm he didn't feel. He didn't go near the circle again, though. It was too powerful for his comfort.

"I – I'm sorry," they sobbed, and Dipper felt just a bit more guilty. "I – It's just...they were gonna...so I thought..."

Crying kid that wasn't a niblet, what do?

"Calm down, Mary Ellen," he said, and she cringed, pressing harder against the wall and staring up at him in silent horror. Great, that worked just perfect. Omniscience – good when you wanted to scare humans by knowing about them, bad when you forgot it scared them.

He signed again and floated down to be closer to her level, bending over and looking at her earnestly. "C'mon, please stop crying. Look, if you summoned me, you must've heard I go easy on kids. Just tell me what you want and why you thought it was a good idea to try enslaving me." Ugh, he was going to lose every bit of demon cred he'd built up if word of this ever got out, but she reminded him of the niblets, all hair and big eyes and looking up at him with a little bit of hope starting to dawn in those eyes and he was so doomed.

"I...didn't, actually," she said, still terrified but sitting up a little straighter, shoving hair and hood out of her face. "Hear that. Or mean to enslave you, honest. It's just..." she took a deep breath and said the rest in a rush, as if afraid to admit to it all. "They've been beating us, and we never get enough to eat, and I heard them talking and they said they were gonna summon you tomorrow and sacrifice us to bind you to them so I thought I'd do it first so I stole the diagrams they were gonna use and I thought and maybe you could stop them or at least save my little brother?"

And again with the crying. Craaaaap. What do now?

Okay, think. No, no, bad idea, bad idea. This wasn't one of his kids, a hug wasn't going to help. Why did human-ing have to be so hard?

Wait...this was someone else, the adult's, summoning circle? They were the ones who wanted him bound, and they were torturing kids to make it happen? They were going to pay...

"Um...are you okay?" she asked in a tiny voice. "Only your eyes went all gold and you kinda started turning black and..."

"Who's them? And what were you willing to offer me?" he interrupted her to ask, looking into eyes that were brightening with hope. "No enslavement, just a deal."

"You mean it? I...I don't...have anything to trade...and it's...they're our uncle and aunt...they took us in after our parents died but..."

"Y̫̯̱̝̎̄̈́͋o̯̟͂͑ͪ̓̑ͨ̐̎̃u͈̯̗̹̭̩ͭ̏ͯ̓ͧr̶̲̪͔̅̍̆̉͆ͤͬͬ̀͟ ̰̲̘̙ͬ̍̏ͬ̓̐̉̚͟f̄̌̍ͬ͊ͨͦ̾̄҉͔̳͕͓͚̭̼ḁ̵͕̯̬͚ͦ̎̾m̸̹̳̳̅̈́̓̏̔ͥi̇҉̵͍͓̺l̘ͩ̑̄y͌̇̆̿̾͏̝͖͈͖̜͙̦͡ ̡̞̺̜̰̲͎̽ͨ̐͂̇ͅd̏̑̈́̍͆̀͏͈̠͉͘ị̊̅̾ͬ̀̄̚͝d̶̴̙̃̈̉ͯͪͬ̏̍͟ ̡̬̫̹̮͎̤̒͢t͓̙̺̬͕̍ͯ͂͊̓́̈́͗͝ͅͅh̯͔̼͊̐̌͌̈́͗ͭ̕͜͝įͪͯ̈ͥ͏͇͕͔̩͈s̷̵̹̺̤̜̭͙̳̈́̉?̶̨̜͉ͪ̂͌ "he started to roar, settling back on the ground when she frantically gestured, pleadingly, for him to quiet down, looking to the basement ceiling frantically.

Breathing heavily, Dipper sank back to his mid air float, willing himself to a state where he could think clearly.

"Look, the price is going to depend on what you ask of me," Dipper said finally, examining his claws as if bored with the whole thing while he seethed inwardly, actually checking their sharpness. "So what'd you want?

"Well...I don't want to be sacrificed..." Mary Ellen offered. "Or my little brother, either. Or to...to be beaten or starved anymore. We want out."

"It's a start," Dipper said, grin baring rows of sharklike teeth. He opened his mouth to make an offer when footsteps thundered overhead.

Mary Ellen shrank back against the wall again, fear saturating the air worse than before when a male voice from upstairs roared her name, calling her a variety of foul names before demanding she show herself, fear of the known more powerful than even the demon in front of her.

Dipper's eyes narrowed, gold bleeding over the black until none remained.

"You want freedom, right, Butterfly?" he asked, turning to look at her again, hands already tingling with the eagerness to seal a deal.

The basement door opened, heavy feet storming down the stairs. "I know you're down here, brat!"

"Anything!" she sobbed, grabbing Dipper's hand and sealing the deal early in her panic. "I'll promise anything! Just save us!"

"Oh, you should never promise a demon that," Dipper purred, black overtaking his body, sliding in front of Mary Ellen and shielding her from sight with his wings. "You got lucky you called on me, Butterfly."

"There you are," her tormenter snapped moments later, reaching out for the shrinking little girl. His hand wrapped around her arm with room to spare as he roughly dragged her out of the corner and towards the stairs.

"By the time I'm done with you you'll be thankful we're gonna give you to a demon," he snarled, hauling her towards the stairs.

Still in the corner, Mary Ellen watched as the demon wearing her form and face turned back to look at her, eyes flashing to gold and Cheshire grin splitting her face farther than a human mouth could to bear sudden fangs as the basement door swung closed behind him.

Her brother stumbled downstairs minutes later, seeking refuge and hiding the way he did every time their caretakers decided one of them needed punishment, and she held him tight as the screaming began.

* * *

><p>Zalgo translations: "Who dares summ-"<br>"You would try to enslave Alcor the Dreambender?"  
>"Your family did this?"<p> 


	6. Leave a Message After the Scream

Finally got to listen to this playlist: /ghostfiish/alcor-s-answering-machine (Go listen if you can get 8tracks to work, I was so glad it finally did) and it made me wonder – what happened the first time a cult got the answering machine instead of Alcor?

-

Leave a Message After the Scream

-

The invocation chant finished, the cultists lowered their arms, staring at the circle eagerly as the candles flared, smoke boiling around the edges and rising into a pillar.

Finally, the summoning had worked, after all the research and false starts. They were going finally to summon Alcor, the Dream Bender, the Reality Warper, and soon, with his power at their command, all their dreams of power and glory were going to come true!

A spark of blue fire shot up from the center of the circle and their leader stepped forward, readying his speech for when Alcor appeared.

He stopped short as, instead of the human-esqe figure they expected, the blue flame hovered at chest height before spinning itself into a star, which pirouetted slowly within the dissipating smoke.

"Is that supposed to happen?" someone near the back whispered, only to be shushed by their frightened neighbors.

The words "Please Wait, Alcor Shall Be With You Soon," appeared on both sides of the star, looking suspiciously like they'd been written in purple glitter glue. A second later, a woman's voice began singing "Disco Queen", enthusiastically if a bit off key.

In silent shock, they cultists stood and watched the star spin and listened to the cover of "Disco Queen" and through "Taking Over Midnight", shifting uncomfortably and unsure of just what to do. None of the guides said anything about this!

As "Taking Over Midnight" ended and "Don't Start Un-Believing" began, the message on the star changed, exploding in a burst of glitter to be replaced by "Please Leave A Message At The Sound Of The Scream."

"Taking Over Midnight" came to an end, and sure enough, there was a bloodcurdling scream from inside the circle, making nearly all the cultists jump and giggle nervously and guiltily.

The star pulsed like a heartbeat for roughly a minute before going up in a ball of blue flame, dissipating into thin air.

"...did we just get a demonic answering machine?" a cultist asked in disbelief. "And we didn't even leave a message on it?"

"What kind of message do you leave on a demonic answering machine?" another snapped.

"Can they even do that?"

"...apparently Alcor can."

"At least we know we got through," yet another said. "Let's try again, I liked that cover of "Don't Start Un-Believing."

Meanwhile, the leader's eye started to twitch. This was so not what he'd signed up for.

-

A/N: Song titles taken from the show, episodes Double Dipper and Scary-Oke. They also used "We Built This Township on Rock and Roll" and "Danger Lane to Highway Town".


	7. A Love For All Eternity

I thought I was done with the romance novels. I was wrong.

Alcor/Mizar/The Woodsman

...sorry Dipper.

* * *

><p>Mabel nearly skipped over to the 'new releases' corner of the Demonic Romances section.<p>

Teasing Dipper with these was never going to get old.

She picked through them in a rush, grin growing as she found a new trend in them. Picking up the most promising, she cracked it open for a taste test.

_The Woodsman backed away until his back hit a tree, antlers tangling in the lowest branches._

_Alcor advanced on him like a hunting cat stalking prey, floating until he was eye to eye with the one his powers had created._

_He licked his lips, then again, slower, when The Woodsman's eyes followed that wicked, sinful tongue over perfect lips._

"_So" Alcor breathed, his voice dark and low black velvet, stroking almost physically over The Woodsman's skin,"you want me."_

_The Woodsman refused to meet his eyes. "I don't..."_

"_You __**w͓̳̜ͨ̿ͦ͠àn͌́ṱ̶̙͈̰͗́**__ me," the demon repeated, pressing closer. "And Mizar, too."_

"_I..."_

"_Come and __**t͖͋ͥ̐ͩa͓͕̺̅̄ḱ̹́ͯͥ͆̿e͎̙͛̈ͭ̀̂͐ ̯͙͕̯͍̣͑̋m͉̞͍̥̈ͬ̾̆e̯͈̲͒ **__then," he taunted, bare inches from The Woodsman's face. Oh, but he'd never imagined this when he'd created The Woodsman to protect his family, but he wasn't going to complain when the outcome was so delicious._

_With a snarl to match the demon king's, The Woodsman tore free of the branches, slamming the smaller, more powerful demon against the tree that had so recently trapped him._

"_You shameless..." he snarled, to the demon's pointed, cheshire grin. "And what about Mizar? You'd betray her that easily?"_

"_She knows. Mizar always knows everything," Alcor purred, seemingly unconcerned with the hands pinning his wrists to rough bark, almost arching into the punishing grip. "Did you really think she wouldn't know you want us both?" he asked tauntingly, arching into the body covering his. "Do you think about it at night? Which one do you imagine you're pinning down when you touch yourself?"_

_Growling, The Woodsman smashed his mouth against Alcor's, teeth clicking against fangs as he forcefully shut the other up. _

_Hands pulling on his antlers drew him back, Mizar's voice in his ear shocking him into stillness and obedience. "Now like __**that**__ ," she giggled. "He likes it rough, but if you wanna drive him mad, you gotta be __**gentle**__ ." _

_Blinking rapidly, looking down at the smirking demon, challenging him, The Woodsman gave a smirk of his own before leaning down and pressing his mouth against Alcor's a second time, hands tangling in soft brown hair._

_Slow, gentle, he took his time exploring the moist cavern, his tongue twisting and dancing with Alcor's, feeling victory sing through his veins when arms wound around his neck and the demon king went limp against him, a moan singing through their connected mouths._

_His hands shot down to grasp at that tight, pert ass, gripping it hard and hauling Alcor off his feet and up against him, those long, long legs wrapping around his waist just as he'd dreamed time and time again, Mizar pressing against his back and giggling._

"_Let's take it back to the bedroom, boys," she whispered._

"Mabel? We're ready, hon. Find something you want?" Henry paused, looking at his cackling wife, who at that moment looked more evil than her brother, the literal demon. "I don't want to know."

* * *

><p>AN: I've said it before, but...when things get depressing around here, I find myself writing things that make me laugh. And these snippets make me giggle like a loon.

The version on AO3 is slightly longer and NSFW for rather tame sexy times. It's found at archiveofourown works /2709113/chapters/6142280


	8. Demon Buddies

Opened my inbox for fic open season prompts and received: Alcor and Soos being buddies and hanging out.

For some reason bro-time was being difficult. I tried. Have the first time Soos summoned Dipper for bro-time.

* * *

><p>Soos stared at the scrap of paper Mabel had given him.<p>

On the one hand – summoning a demon. On the other – it was Dipper. And he missed the kid. Dipper was one of his closest friends, like a little bro, and he missed him. Things were way too quiet now that he had to get Mabel to be go-between and tell him what Dipper was saying.

So…if he had to summon him, demon-like, to hang out…Soos shrugged and put the paper on the ground. Glancing around to make sure no one could see him – he didn't really care if anyone saw him hanging with Dipper, he just didn't want anyone to see him if he screwed this up – he pricked his finger and smeared the blood on the paper the way Mabel and told him to.

"Uh…Dipper? You there dude?"

There was a puff of smoke and Dipper appeared, floating over the summoning circle. "…um…hey Soos," he said, scratching at the back of his head and looking anywhere but at Soos.

Soos laughed. "Dude, you gotta work on that entrance. Not scary at all."

"Well, I…didn't want to scare you…" Dipper said, still shifting uncomfortably.

"You should still work on that, dude, you could have some fun with it," Soos commented.

There was an awkward silence, then, neither quite sure what to say. 'Hey dude, sorry you're a demon now?' 'So, yeah, if you need proof I'm a demon now, there you go, just waiting for you to run screaming from the room now, no big deal.'

"…so…you wanna go put hot dogs in the microwave and watch 'em blow up one by one?" Soos offered.

"…are you sure? I mean…"

"Yeah, dude. I miss my Dipper time." Soos smiled, holding up a fist. "We still cool, bro?"

Dipper lit up, tapping his fist against Soos'. "Yeah. We cool, Soos."

* * *

><p>Soos and twins friendship forever.<p> 


	9. Makeover Time

Fic Open Season Prompt: Candy and Grenda doing the makeup thing on Dipper when he's on the phyical plane, who cares if he's a big scary demon.

* * *

><p>Mabel and Dipper had been officially moved back to Gravity Falls permanently for two weeks before Candy and Grenda invited themselves over for a 'welcome back' slumber party.<p>

Mostly because Mabel was still hurting over having to leave their parents house and learning that sometimes, being loved wasn't enough, but also just to welcome back their friend.

Dipper fled as the girls descended upon the attic room he and Mabel still, technically, shared despite his no longer really needing a room, though Mabel had seen the grateful look he shot her friends before he left.

It was good to have friends that wouldn't desert you just because your dorky twin brother now happened to be your dorky twin demon brother.

They'd dragged out the old board games, talked about all the gossip of Gravity Falls, and 'watched' rom coms until the early morning, eating popcorn and giggling.

Mabel laughed and flopped back into the pile of cushions on the floor. "Tonight's been great, girls. Thanks. I needed this."

Grenda and Candy nodded understandingly. They'd been there when everything had gone down, and they'd seen Mabel when she'd thought Dipper was dead. Demon was better than dead, in their opinion, if only because he was still there for their friend. For the most part. Good enough.

"The night's not over yet!" Grenda cheered. She held up a bag full of makeup and declared, "It's makeover time!"

"But you're both already beautiful!" Mabel protested, rolling over onto her stomach.

"But your brother is a demon now," Candy said in a matter of fact tone.

Mabel's eyes narrowed, automatically on the defensive. "Yeah. And?"

"And a demon cannot go around and be taken seriously in shorts and t-shirt!" Candy said, nodding sagely. "So he needs a makeover."

"We don't have clothes, so we can do his makeup first!" Grenda declared, shaking the bag meaningfully.

"…if he can be physical for us," Candy added, the two girls suddenly remembering how none of them had seen or heard Dipper since the twins had returned, worried they may have hit a sore spot.

Mabel, on the other hand, was grinning. "Not a problem, girls. We figured out a summoning circle!" she dug in a bag and produced a pad of paper covered in a sketchy circle. "We're still ironing out the details, though Dipper's sure about the symbols. Apparently, he needs a demon name for a proper invocation," she said, rolling her eyes and laughing. "This one's for friends and family. We give a sacrifice, like some candy, so he can stay on this plane, and a drop of blood to call him up, and he's physical for awhile. We're still figuring out how much candy he needs to stay physical, it's a work in progress."

The girls cheered as Mabel set the paper down on the ground and offered up their fingers when Mabel pulled out a needle, pricking their fingers and letting the blood fall on the circle.

They half expected some kind of incantation, but somehow it was more right when Mabel just called, "Hey Dippingsauce, get down here," instead.

There was a little poof of black smoke and Dipper was there, hovering a foot off the floor uncomfortably.

"Um…hi?" he said, refusing to look straight at either of Mabel's friends.

Mabel tossed him a bag of candy they hadn't opened yet. "You're joining us, Dipdot!" she declared. "Think that'll buy us some time?"

Dipper looked at the candy in his hands and back at Mabel, confusion written plainly on his face as he tried to understand why they wanted him there. "Uh…yeah, about an hour I think…"

For their part, Grenda and Candy were looking Dipper over. He really didn't look that different from before, if you discounted the claws, ears, and teeth…oh, and the creepy eyes. But he still had the same outfit from that summer that everything had changed, all the way down to the ratty sneakers.

They looked at each other and began to grin. "Makeover!" they chorused, holding up the makeup bag.

Dipper went pale. "Oh crap…no way, I'm out of here!"

"Tackle him, girls!" Mabel cheered.

The Shack rang with their cheerful shrieks and Stan's banging on the wall, yelling for them to keep it down up there.

(Dipper didn't keep the makeover.)

* * *

><p>Friendships are so important in this AU.<p> 


	10. Family

Fic Open Season Prompt: Dipper and the extended Family on Henry's side.

Sort of skewed into Henry's reaction to his parent's reaction to Dipper.

* * *

><p>Henry was doing his best to shield Dipper and Mabel from his extended family, save for the branch in Gravity Falls.<p>

Then again, Manly Dan and his clan were already considered just as much black sheep as Henry was. Little wonder they accepted Henry, Mabel, and Dipper as well as they did. Living in Gravity Falls was enough for the rest of the family to be estranged from them, despite them being 'proper' Corduroy Lumberjacks, even before they put Uncle Tyler into the mix.

And really, Henry preferred it that way. And if he were being honest, it was for Mabel and Dipper's sake, not his family's, that he'd kept them separate and begun cutting ties with most of the people he was (unfortunately) related to.

It wasn't until they started to talk about the wedding that Henry's parents came up in unavoidable conversation.

"So I know my parents want to come up for the wedding, even though Dipper still creeps them out. We're still summoning him for it, I don't care. He's my bro-bro, yanno? He's been there for me more than them." Mabel paused in her rambling to glance over at Henry. "You did know we need to have him there, right?"

"Can he be in the church, or should we have it outside?" was Henry's practical concern. "Uncle Dan can set us up with a pavilion outside so we can be sure he'll be there. I was going to ask him to be my best man, so it's kind of important he can attend."

Mabel grinned, grateful, at the easy acceptance of Dipper being part of the wedding. "…I never heard you mention if your parents were coming. Are they?" she asked, glittering another invite.

Henry winced. "Yeah, but…fair warning. They're not happy."

"Let Mabel work her magic!" his fiancee chirped. Henry winced again.

"They…aren't nice people anymore, honey," he said. "They weren't the nicest before, and they just got worse after the Transcendence and I made it clear I wasn't going to take a stand against the supernatural and come home to be a 'proper' Corduroy."

Mabel grimaced, and he kept talking. "I…think I need to talk to them before the wedding, to make sure everything goes smoothly. I…guess if you want to come along…"

…this was a mistake, Henry thought as he watched his father continue his monologue, one that would sound fine to an outsider but was actually a vicious barrage of abuse directed mostly at Mabel and Dipper. Between it and his mother's constant fondling of her crosses, her quiet, fervent, hissed in a barely audible (but quite nasty, Henry was sure) prayers, and her offers of holy water laced beverages, they'd already driven Dipper from the room (Henry wasn't sure, but he thought there had been a faint glimmer of gold demon tears threatening to spill from Dipper's eyes, despite how hard he'd been trying to look human) and were close to driving Mabel to do the same, and he had to do something.

No one hurt his brother or his fiancee. Not even his parents.

Especially not his parents, or his brother's parents. No one.

"That's enough," he said, quiet and calm, cutting though his father's verbal assault. "It doesn't matter what you think of this. Mabel and Dipper are my family now, and we're formalizing it a month from now. Come or not, it doesn't really matter. If you do, though, then I want you to know that Uncle Dan will be there, and he'll remove you if you so much as breathe wrong towards my family. He'll probably enjoy it. I'll be too busy sharing the day with the people who actually matter to deal with you. Then, or now."

He shoved back his chair and stood up, taking Mabel's hand. "Now I'm going home with my family. C'mon, Mabel, let's go find your brother."

They left, Rita's faint "I'll pray for you," drifting after them.

Outside, Henry leaned against the wall, Mabel clinging to him tightly.

"You weren't kidding," she said, muffled against his shirt.

"Sorry," he said, squeezing her close. "I meant all of it, though. C'mon, let's go find your brother. I think he needs us right now."

Dipper had retreated to the Mindscape, despite their earlier deal having granted him more time on the physical plane then he'd used, and Henry couldn't blame him. He father was vicious when he got going, and there were some things no one should be asked to endure.

Mabel coaxed Dipper back onto their plane with soup and promises of hugs, and now, bracketed between twins, with a head on his chest and another on his shoulder, an arm around each, watching one of Stan's old movies for comfort, Henry resolved – he might not be able to protect them from physical threat the way they could him or each other, but it didn't mean he couldn't be there for them no matter what.

He squeezed them a little closer, Mabel squeezing back and Dipper nuzzling closer, at the very edge of sleep.

Yeah. His family. A lot smaller than the old one, and a bit broken, but the one he chose.

And to hell with anyone who tried to take it from him.

* * *

><p>AN: Henry will not stand by while people hurt his family. Not now, not ever.


	11. You Stole Something From Me

Prompt Jar gave me "You Stole Something From Me". This is what happened.

* * *

><p>The demon huntress stared deep into the eyes of her prey, waiting for the right instant to strike.<p>

She raised her knife, thrice blessed and doused with holy water, and hesitated. Inside the circle, bound there by only his own wish – and they both knew it – the demon Alcor hissed up at her from where he knelt, hands braced on the ground within the circle.

"Why ͟are y̶o̸ư ͝h̶e̸sit̕ati͡n̴g̨?" he hissed. "D͝o ͟it̸,͜ f̢i̢nis̀h̸ t̢hi͘s̡ ͘now!"

She raised the knife again, aiming a strike at him that was halfhearted at best before lowering it again. "No!" she declared, pointing the knife at him with blazing eyes. "I want to know why Mizar locked us in here, and why you've been following me! Talk, Alcor! What's going on?"

He rose, slowly, floating above the circle, drifting closer until he was face to face with the famous demon hunter, her knife denting the front of his waistcoat as she held it between them. "Y͢o̷u wa̛nt t͝o̕ ̕k̸n̵ow̸ ́why̶,̷ ͠W̷en̵dy?̨ ̶W̴h͜y I'v̸e b̧e̵e͠n watch͜iǹg̛ y͡o̸u? ͘Why I͟'v̡e f̶ol̕low͘e͢d ̶you͘?̷ ͜W͞h̨y ͏my ̡i̡n͘te͡r͏f͜e̛r̨i͟ng̷ s̷i͟s͠͝t̨e̷r̛͠ ͜l̸ock̷ed̡ ͜us ̕in̛ he͝r͞e?̛" he demanded.

Eyes glowing with gold flame, he leaned forward closer, staring deep into her eyes. "Be̸cau̡s̕e ̴y͘o͜u̴ ̧st͠ole ͞sơm͘et͢h̷i͞ng ͏f̡r͢om̴ ͢m̡e,̕ ̛an͜d́ I w̢̒ͤ͐ͣ̓ă̓ͩ̑͌̾͋n͋̓́̎t̍ͧͧ i̫͖̱ͨͦͩ̂̊̓t͉ͣ̈́ _b̶̫̝̱͎̼̓ͩ̎ͯa̒̅͊̋҉͓̘̯̤͕̖̞͘ͅc̴̼̖̋̾̏k̓̒ͥͨ̏͏̬̬͙̖͟_ "

"What are you talking about?" Wendy demanded, not backing down from the demon in front of her. "I haven't stolen anything of yours!"

"Y̳̭͋̓͑͋̃̚o̴͇͖͂ͅu̻̻̺̹͌͋̂ͧ͊͡ ͖͚̾̐̀ͣͤd̡̘͖ͪo̡̔̋̑ͭ͊ṋͣ̊ͪ̂'͉̣̼͕͈͚̹̿̊ẗ̵̟͖̤̱̜́͋ͬ̆̑͗ ̌ͦ͊̽͊k̻̑ͪͤͤ͑̅ͪ̕n̷̥͚̼͎̲̏ͪ̿̓̊ͫo̴͇̥̹̬̭̜̫̐w͍̫̕?̠̗͇̦̯̐ͮͩ " he said, quieter now, gazing deeply into her eyes, taking her free hand in both of his. "Ÿ̹̖̙̦̥͛o̅̓͛̌͋ͯ҉͖̤̞̖u̻͇̙̓̆̾͗ͧ̽ ̘̞̪̰̘͕̿̄́̓͜s͓̺̖̏̊ͧͮ͂͝ͅt̫̙̠̣̪͉ͩ̽̌̔o͍̠̗͌̓ͤ̈́̒͂͜l̞̣̱̞̍ͬ̿ê̝̱͚̠̱͔̑̕…"

"My HEART!" everyone chorused, breaking down laughing.

Wendy cackled, and Dipper was laughing so hard he fell off the couch, hovering a few inches over the floor.

"Man, and I thought the Twin Souls movies were cheesy," Wendy laughed.

"Aw, you two are perfect for each other and you know it," Mabel teased from the other half of the couch, where she was sprawled across her husband, who was blushing and laughing too hard to join in the teasing. "Just look at what you missed out on, Wendy!"

Dipper shook his cane at Wendy, suddenly aging himself to match his Grunkle. "Am I too old for you now whippersnapper?" he croaked, and she smacked him, Dipper changing back to his normal form as he tumbled in midair and cackled.

Movie forgotten (though Candy managed to pause it, she wasn't going to miss any of this), Grenda started chanting "Go, go, go, go!" and egging Wendy and Dipper on.

Wendy clasped her hands and fluttered her lashes at Dipper in her most outrageously flirtatious fashion.

"Oh, _Alcor_," she said, trying to suppress her laughter, "how could I never have _realized?" _She reached for his hands and clasped them to her chest as Mabel howled and Dipper fought to keep a straight face. "But oh, I am a demon hunter!"

"And I a demon!" Dipper continued, dramatically laying the back of his hand to his forehead. (Mabel, in the background, yelled "Oh god I'm gonna _pee!_")"Our forbidden love cannot be!"

They caught each others eyes and tried to keep it in, snickering and opening and closing their mouths, trying to speak, before giving in and collapsing on each other, laughing too hard to talk.

"I can't…I can't…" she gasped, and he waved a weak hand, panting "Don't even look at me, I can't even…"

—-

* * *

><p>AN: And thus starts the Wendy/Dipper tradition of acting out scenes from movies starring them. I kinda want to write more of the Wendy/Alcor movie/novels, it's as much fun as Twin Souls.


	12. Shenanigans

Fic Open Season Prompt - Post Transcendence Mystery Twin Shenanigans

* * *

><p>It had taken an amazing amount of work, but Mabel had earned herself the funds for a car. It was used, and sometimes only Dipper's willpower kept it going, but it was their car.<p>

Mabel painted it, of course. It glowed in a rainbow of colors, with unicorns and kittens and the words "Mystery Twins" emblazoned on the sides.

Dipper wasn't sure he was totally sold on the whole "Mystery Twins" thing, but if it made Mabel feel better…

Now if only she would stop volunteering them for random adventures.

Piedmont had been low on opportunities for The Mystery Twins, even if Dipper hadn't been, as Mabel put it, "a pug faced sad sack" most of the time…and hadn't wanted to creep out their parents any more than he had to.

But now – now they were back in Gravity Falls, and they were mobile. It was a mixed blessing, really.

Because on the one hand – Dipper wasn't very good at tessering, as he called it, or blipping, as Mabel called it, yet. Especially not with Mabel along for the ride.

On the other – they could cover still cover a lot of ground this way. Far more than they could at twelve. Which meant Mabel volunteering them/seeking out mysteries 'to make Dipper feel better' all over the area.

Mabel was getting better at most of it, but for sheer clout, Dipper still had to do most of the work, magic-wise.

And this latest adventure Mabel had signed them up for…well…

Sneaking in had been the easy part. Releasing the people the flock of vampires had collected to feast on that night, as some sort of celebration, less so.

Negotiating to win the freedom of both the people and themselves in – poker of all things – had been…something.

(Mabel tilted back the top hat she'd won off Dipper, flashing a million watt grin as she spread out her cards. "Read 'em and weep, boys," she said triumphantly.

The vampires groaned as Dipper flashed his hand, a full house to Mabel's straight flush, grinning a mouthful of sharklike teeth. "Looks like that's another human for us, then," he said.

Bless Grunkle Stan for teaching them how to play poker. Doubly so for teaching them how to _cheat_ at poker.

Served the vampires right for thinking they could cheat _their_ way though poker and get not only another human for their little festival, but a taste of demon blood to top off the festivities.

He wasn't sure if Mabel was more insulted that they thought they could have a taste of her brother, or if he was that they thought he'd just sit back and let them eat his sister.

…probably Mabel, if the look she was giving them as she kicked their asses at poker was anything to go by. Though it was a close call.)

Getting away from said flock of vampires, who now knew there was a demon and a human working together and were convinced they'd been cheated out of a taste of demon blood along with a human appetizer and had decided they were getting something out of tonight even if the humans they'd collected had all gotten away?

"Step on it, they're gaining!" Dipper cried. Mabel gunned the engine, the whole car shaking with the effort.

"I am! Dipper, you're the demon, do something magic!" Mabel yelled back, swerving to avoid a vampire that flung itself from above at the car's windshield. "Suck on _this_," she added, shoving a bulb of garlic into the mouth of a vampire that tried to get at them through the window.

"I'm _trying_," he grunted, "but it's that or keep the car in one piece, since they're trying to take it apart! And I can't touch anything but the garlic or the stakes!"

"So throw a fireball or something!"

"…oh. Right." Mabel rolled her eyes and swerved again as Dipper clung to the back of his seat, twisting to kneel on it (approximately, he was losing corporeality fast, between getting ready to pitch a fireball and holding the car together – which was probably unnecessary but still) and pitched blue fire at the following vampires.

And yelped as several more latched onto the roof of the car. Dipper screamed, grabbed the back of his seat, and tessered them, car and all, out of there, leaving vampires to fall onto the road where the car had been.

They landed outside the Mystery Shack, tires squealing and spinning a donut as they landed and Mabel fought to get the car under control.

They sat, panting and staring at each other silently, until Mabel threw her arms in the air with an ear-shattering "WHOO-HOO! MYSTERY TWINS VICTORY!"

Dipper just flopped over the back of the seat, panting, and facepalmed. He'd just tessered an entire _car, _and his sister knew he could now_. _This could only end badly.


	13. Demonic Allergies

transcendence au prompt: mabel and dipper find out that church incense causes dipper to sneeze uncontrollably. mabel finds it kind of hilarious.

* * *

><p>The door to the church creaked open, and Mabel Pines, aka Mizar the Gleeful as she was beginning to be called (and she loved it), peeked around it.<p>

Dipper floated in after her, still in the Mindscape, rubbing his hands together nervously. He'd only been a demon a couple of years now, he couldn't just 'pop' into the physical plane yet to help Mabel, and they were going to go after a cult?

Just great. And a cult that set up base in a church, too. A cult devoted to 'purifying the world of its evil' or something, he wasn't quite sure.

Then again, if the 'evil' they were getting rid of was other demons…well, they could probably do with a few less demons in the world.

Okay, so he was curious and wanted to know what they were up to, but that didn't mean Mabel had to come along.

Except, of course, Mabel had other ideas. No way Dipper was going to be allowed to have an adventure by himself. Mystery Twins forever, according to Mabel.

The cult was in the basement, of course. Dipper was starting to get the impression that cults, as a whole, weren't imaginative, and were creatures of habit no matter where they formed or why.

They'd also found Mabel sneaking around and dragged her into the basement. Apparently, one of them had just enough Sight to realize there was a demon hanging around Mabel and they were going to take this opportunity to 'rid the world of evil'.

So now Dipper was silently freaked out, unable to affect the real world much at all and only able to watch as his sister mocked the cultists and walked them through drawing his circle.

He could, and already had, burned through the ties binding his sister, though she was still pretending to be tied up. Apart from that…he was still learning how to effect the real world, so unless Mabel could summon him to be on the physical plane he was so useless right now!

Then they started the summons and oh man this was bad this was _bad_ he wasn't ready for this…

Dipper felt himself pulled into the circle and let himself go with it, not sure he could have resisted if he'd tried.

The cultists looked appropriately worried at his entrance, though his sister was biting back laughter. Seeing someone practice their dramatic entrance took all the drama out of it, especially when they kept screwing it up while you watched.

Oh crap they'd lit that church incense probably to try and hurt or trap him somehow and ignore it Dipper ignore it oh man it was potent no be scary"W̦̭͕͕̥̜̄ͯ̑h͔̫̪̩ͤͭ̋ͥ̿̓̆ò̫͖̣̹͐ͭͪ̚ ͎̋ͤd̹̯͗à̓ͤ͊̒͑́r̲͎͇̘̱͇ͥͮ̑e͉̘̣̩̮͉̍ͫͬͪs̳͔̰͚̃̐ͧ ͋s̺͎͍ͫu̟ͦͪͩ́̓̃m͙͕̹m̝̙̰̼̌̈́o̝͗͌̎̆n͉̥͐ͪͭͨ ̻̔Ă̖̟͕̤̎̃́ͯl͚͍̝͌̔̀̆̒̏͊c̥͓̈ͦͣ-̰̻̬̻̠̥ͫͥ̃" breathed in crapcrap_crap _"A͉̲ͪ͛̈́̉h̞̲̘͇͉̪͖ͩ̀̿͌ ̰̱͑̈́̽-͍̝̺̘̇̑̿ Ẫ̞̠̘̼͘h͆ͤ̒ͥͬ͊̕҉̞ͅ ̔͏͕͔̼̦̦͚-̵͖̘̠̪̒̍ͬ A̵̡̖̩̫̟͉͎̯̮̖͙̿͋̾͂ẖ̵̲͓̯̺̤̹͉̞ͨ͂ͣͪ̐͋̅̀̆̏̈ͬ̀͝ ̡̥̰̗̏̆̽̃ͤ̿́̕͟͡-̶̡̐̐͒ͨͤ͊ͨ̾ͫͤ́҉̞̣̣̞̺̫̟̳̩͇̱̜̣̙͈ _tchew_" he sneezed, utterly ruining the dramatic introduction and bursting into flames, scooting back a foot within the circle with the force of the sneeze.

There was a stunned silence, broken only when Dipper sneezed again, and again, over and over, six in a row, one tiny, kitten sneeze after another, each more precious and twee than the last, and each accompanied by another burst of blue fire, making the candle flames turn blue and sputter with each sneeze, his floating meaning each sneeze made him float backwards in little spurts until he hit the edge of the circle, the force of his sneezing knocking over a few of the candles.

"Dip – Alcor, are you…_allergic_ to the _incense_?" Mabel asked incredulously into the even more shocked silence that followed Dipper's sneeze attack.

"Į̷̬̬͚͚̰͖͇̄ͣ́̓͊̉̚͢ ͔͍͖͖̯͕̣ͧͧͧ͜A̛͓̣̭̜̲̩͂̑ͥͅM̘̲̗̪̌͒ͥ ̺̲̙̂ͣ̎͜Ṋ̵̶̜͚͍̜ͦ̑̍̐ͩ̐ͩ͟O̢̰̝̯̥̳̙̼̪͐̈́ͤͣ͊͌̚͢ ̡̮̘̫̌͑̌́̔̚͢-̨̤̰͍͈͖̤͉̊̒̎ͅ ̼̰̗ͮͣ̀͘͢_A̢̰̝ͨ̚Ç̡̮̫̱̹̅̾̄̋̂̄H̝͚̣͈̼̯̪͖͙ͩ-tew,_" Dipper thundered, cut off by another sneeze.

Mabel burst into gut wrenching laughter as the cultists looked to each other in confusion, even more as the demon they'd called up floated over to the girl over the broken circle and began…arguing with her? While still sneezing. Constant sneezing. And arguing. Like siblings. But…demon? Human? What?

But…the demon was allergic to the incense. That was a good thing, right?

Except…he wasn't writhing in pain, just sneezing. Uncontrollably. Tiny, twee little kitten sneezes. With tiny little bursts of blue flame that were almost…cute.

What.

Later, after everything was cleaned up and the smoke had cleared, Mabel could swear she heard the moment they broke their first cult's worth of minds.

And it was a sweet, sweet sound.


	14. Dreidel

Fic Open Season Prompt: The Mystery Shack Crew Playing Dreidel.

* * *

><p>"…that one means you take half the gelt, Soos," Dipper reminded Soos from where he was floating above their heads, half the gold foil covered chocolate coins moving from the pile to in front of Soos.<p>

"Grunkle Stan, quit hiding gelt in your pockets!" Mabel protested, pointing an accusing finger at her grunkle. "And Dipper, stop eating it! You can't eat the gelt until we're done and you know it!"

Dipper licked the last bit of chocolate off a claw (the little coins were harder than ever to open with claws) and blushed. "But it's helping me stay physical!" he protested, aware he was coming close to whining.

Wendy rolled her eyes and tossed a piece of non-game chocolate up toward the ceiling without looking. "Here, now stop eating all the game pieces. Mabel, what's this one mean again?"

"Put a token in. I _saw that_, Grunkle Stan!" Stan grumbled and returned the candy to the center of the table. Mabel glared at him until he rolled his eyes and pulled a few more pieces out of his pocket, tossing them down into the pot.

"You're just cranky 'cuz it's hard to cheat at dreidel," Dipper laughed at his Grunkle, floating down to give the top a spin for his turn and shrugging as it came up 'do nothing', rising back up to float above the table. "And Mabel keeps catching you."

Stan grumbled as Dipper floated overhead, grinning in joy and starting to hum quietly under his breath. He'd missed this, and Mabel…she was having a blast.

Hard to play when two players refused to acknowledge the fourth, after all.

(And maybe, just maybe, Wendy and Soos found themselves with armfuls of demon and extra enthusiastic hugs before they started on their way home.)

(And just maybe they'd smiled and squeezed extra tight before heading off, still munching chocolate and laughing.)


	15. Demonic Puberty

The Prompt Jar gave me "Eyes" earlier this month and somehow, this is what came out.

—-

The first clue they had that Dipper wasn't just a ghost came the first time he sneezed.

They'd been sitting and watching an old movie with Grunkle Stan (their parents had arrived the day before but they didn't understand the way Grunkle Stan did, thought Mabel was imagining Dipper to try and cope with whatever had happened, so the twins were sticking around their Grunkle as long as they could) when Dipper sneezed, just as tiny and cute and kittenish as ever.

And accompanied by a burst of blue, demonic flame bursting out over Dipper's entire body.

He promptly freaked out, and so did Mabel, beating on Dipper's arm to put him out as their grunkle demanded to know what was going on, dumping his drink over Dipper when Mabel freaked about "Blue fire! _Blue fire!"_.

They couldn't decide if it was creepy or lucky that the fire didn't leave so much as a smudge of soot on anything around Dipper when they finally put it out. Dipper, on the other hand, looked a bit crisp around the edges.

Mabel, once everyone had calmed down, decided it meant she needed to start carrying marshmallows around in case Dipper felt the need to sneeze again.

—-

A month after they went home, Dipper found himself staring at his hands.

It had just been out of depression at first, despondent that whatever let him interact with the physical world seemed to be so random, letting Mabel buckle him into the seat belt for the ride home (Mabel had insisted on Dipper wearing his seat belt in the car, despite being insubstantial, and their parents had spent the entire ride home giving the filled seat belt with no visible user confused, worried, and slightly frightened looks in the mirror), yet not letting him pick up a pen to write down what was happening to him.

Then he'd noticed his nails.

They'd never been particularly nice nails – Dipper was always too eager to dive in and find things out to take special care of his nails, so they'd often had dirt under them or been a bit ragged along the edges – but they'd never been sharp before.

They weren't very sharp, but they were longer than they'd ever been before, smoother, and he could have sworn they were getting a point to the end of them. More like…like claws, then nails. They didn't look right, anymore. They didn't look _human._

He buried his hands in his hair as he silently began to freak and froze as his hands brushed against his ear. No, no, it couldn't…he rushed to the bathroom, for once not caring that he went through a wall in his haste to get to a mirror.

The tip of his ear was pointed. Not by much, but he could tell. He was sure of it – and his teeth, were they sharper now too?!

The worst part about all of it, in Dipper's opinion, was that there was no one he could talk to about this other than Mabel, and no one who could have seen him to give an opinion even if they could have heard him.

For all he knew, he was panicking and imagining all of it, but there was no one he could ask but Mabel, and she wouldn't be home for an hour yet. (He wasn't going to school with her everyday anymore, since the day he'd accidentally set the backpack of one of her tormenters on fire. Lucky for Mabel, it was blamed on something else, but it didn't help her popularity.)

But not matter how much he wanted to believe he was imagining it…he clenched his fists and felt the new, sharper nails bite into his hands.

He…he really wasn't human anymore, he realized. He wanted to think he was imagining this, but the proof was there, right in front of him. There wasn't a cure, in the journals or anywhere. This…this was what he was always going to be like, from now on.

Giving in, he curled up on the floor of the bathroom, silently crying as the lights flickered in time to his sobs.

—-

His nails, ears, and teeth continued to change as the months passed. By the time the twin's thirteenth birthday came around they weren't human at all anymore, and Dipper was almost glad no one but Mabel could see what was happening to him, whatever it was.

Mabel teased him that he was turning into a kitten, with cute little kitten claws and kitten teeth and kitten ears and a kitten sneeze, and their room echoed with calls of "Dippy-cat", no matter how much it made their parents wince.

(He'd managed to go solid once, and they'd seen him. They'd taken one look at his sharper teeth, the claws forming on his fingertips and ears that already were longer than a human's and came to a point, and, well…it hadn't gone well. At least they believed Mabel now.)

But as much as any of them tried to deny it, much as Dipper tried to pretend everything was going to be fine, it was obvious just what was happening to him, despite how impossible it sounded. He still gave off bursts of blue fire when he sneezed (which Mabel continued to find hilarious) and new powers when he got upset (which was less hilarious), and despite every journal, every book, they could find on the subject saying it was impossible…there was no denying it.

—-

As they neared their fourteenth birthday, he got the powers more and more under some semblance of control – but each time he thought he had them, they grew, or he discovered something new.

Sometimes he forgot that his nails were claws now, his teeth fangs, until he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, or he went to brush his hair out of his face or scratch an itch or a dozen other little things he's done a million times before and managed to hurt himself, left a bleeding scratch that he watched close as if it never was in seconds.

There were times he would go half mad from seeing it, clawing at himself as the cuts closed almost as quickly as he made them, blood that should have been red but was now more gold with red highlights smeared across his arms, streaking down his legs, and when he finally broke down and cried the tears were a watery gold no human had ever cried – and likely no demon, either. It was unlikely demons could cry, but Dipper was turning into a demon, and he did. He did cry, in despair and frustration, at what was happening to him day by day.

In short, he was a mess, and he knew it.

—

Then their grandparents came for a visit, a month after they turned fifteen. Their grandparents, who visited once a year at best, since their mother had married into the 'ungodly' Pines family. Their grandparents, the fundamentalists, the traditionalists, who could lecture for hours on their idea of sin and believed in strict gender roles, who had already driven Mabel to sweater town once before for being 'different' (Read: not quiet, meek, and biddable) and Dipper to the woods for the same (Too bookish, quiet, curious).

Dipper left the house early at Mabel's urging. Their parents still only had a suspicion of what Dipper was changing into (willful ignorance was a wonderful thing), and if it was true…neither twin wanted their grandparents around him. Dipper tried to talk Mabel into coming with him, but their parents wanted one twin there, their grandparents would be more difficult if they suspected the twins to be hiding from them, and Mabel, well, was _Mabel,_ and willing to try.

Dipper was messing about in the patch of forest near their home, lighting bursts of blue fire from his hands and staring at it, seeing if he could control it, when he felt something, like a tug on his soul, and some part of him knew it was Mabel.

And she was utterly _devastated _and his twin was _hurting_ and he needed to get to her now now _now._

He didn't remember getting back to the house, getting Mabel out, or anything that happened after. He came back to his senses in his sister's arms, by the edge of a lake he'd boiled dry, still feeling her tears soaking his shirt, the arms wrapped around each other tight enough to hurt, though some part of him had kept his claws from hurting his sister despite the grip he had on her.

The whole story came out as she calmed down, in bits a pieces – how their parents had tried to explain what had happened to their grandparents, and how their grandparents had utterly freaked out. The sermon, the lecture, the yelling. Talk of exorcism, of separating the twins 'for their own good', casting Dipper out to go to hell where demons belonged and sending Mabel to be locked away from decent folk, how they'd brought this upon themselves with their sinful ways, of institutions and churches and convents.

Almost all directed at Mabel.

And their parents only put up the most token of defenses to most of it, like their mom's parents were saying all the things they thought but weren't saying.

And then Dipper showed up and the walls lost their color and he got them out of there, and, and…

"Dipper, your _eyes_," Mabel mourned, cradling his face in her hands. (_Touch_, a little part of him trilled, even as he started panicking.) "They're…"

He reached up to touch by his eye, hand shaking. With a wrench of power he hadn't known he could use the lake was refilled and he leaned over to look into it.

He wasn't sure what he expected to see reflected back at him, but for his sclera to have gone black, his iris gold, and the pupils gone completely…he turned slowly to look at Mabel and winced, backing away from her, covering his eyes.

Her arms wrapped around his head and they sat there, rocking slowly, until their parents came to find them.

(They found out later how their parents had been stunned during the explosion and Dipper's reaction but had defended them after, refusing to consider sending Mabel away and banning their grandparents from their home. The damage was done, but it…helped. A little. Except that it was obvious that they agreed with at least some of what their parents had said. So not as much as it could have, but still.)

—

They didn't take much convincing after that incident to let Mabel – and by extension, Dipper – move back to Gravity Falls with Grunkle Stan for good. It wasn't the only incident they'd had between all of them, it was simply the last straw for the twins and their parents both.

They loved each other, but…this time, it just wasn't enough.

—

Grunkle Stan was surprisingly supportive even as he pretended not to be, in his own gruff way.

He certainly reacted better than their parents had when Mabel's first attempts at summonings let Dipper be corporal for awhile, especially the first time.

He'd just stared, silently, measuring Dipper's new eyes, changed ears, the sharp teeth and claws for an uncomfortably long time as Dipper shifted under the scrutiny, terrified of what his Grunkle would say, before finally speaking. "Your sister's right. Ya look like a kitten, kid." Then he cackled and high-fived Mabel, and everything was right in the world of the Mystery Shack again.

Everyone around them was a little uncomfortable at first, but despite everything they still cared enough about the twins to cope with the whole 'Dipper is turning into a demon' thing.

It helped that Dipper didn't act very different yet from the twelve year old who'd come down for the summer and ended up saving the world. Even if they couldn't see him, if everything he said had to be relayed through Mabel, it still showed.

This was Gravity Falls. They'd seen weirder. They were the epicenter of weird.

—

On their sixteenth birthday, the twins headed back to the Mystery Shack from spending the day together in the woods (the last three birthdays had been spent the same, alone save for each other, since it hurt both less to be just the two of them than it was to see their parents so unsure over if they should put Dipper's name on the cake or not, if they could or should give him a piece, to know their parents hadn't bought any presents for their son).

At most, they thought they might get a grunted "Happy Birthday or somethin'" from their Grunkle, maybe an offer to choose something from the gift shop as a present.

Then they opened the door and froze at the shouts of "Surprise!" from inside. They stumbled, a little 'pop' noise coming from Dipper's back that they didn't notice in their shock and the rush of noise.

Open mouthed, they stared at the crowd crammed into the Mystery Shack and beginning to stream in from the woods at the front, where they'd been hiding, still laughing and cheering.

Soos, Wendy, Grenda, and Candy stood at the front of the pack, right beside Grunkle Stan, and the table was piled with presents – and a cake, a huge cake, with _'Happy Birthday Mabel and Dipper'_ written on it in huge, almost day-glo icing.

And beside the table was the summoning circle Dipper and Mabel had created, candles already alight and ready and waiting.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Wendy asked, leaning against the table. "Let's summon us up a demon and party!"

Mabel turned to look at Dipper, her eyes already brimming with joyful tears, and burst out laughing as she got a good look at her brother.

He cocked his head to the side, and she laughed harder. "Hurry, hurry up and summon him, guys! You gotta see this! You startled Dipper into growing _wings! Dipper you grew wings and they're so tiny and adorable!"_

Dipper's affronted declaration that he was _not adorable_ was cut off by Mabel and Wendy rushing through the summoning, dragging him into the center of the circle and corporeality in the middle of his sentence.

He twisted as soon as he was physical to see what Mabel was talking about. Wings sounded cool…but these were tiny. Tiny little bat wings, popping out of the small of his back and flaring when he gave them an experimental twitch.

…of all places for him to get wings, why his _lower back?_ That didn't seem to make any sense at all!

Silently he winced, waiting for the derision to start, the horrified looks at one more sign that he was a demon, that he wasn't human and never would be again. (Or at least for Mabel to start calling them something ridiculous, like butt-wings. He knew his sister. It was only a matter of time.)

"Cool wings, bro," Wendy said, giving him a wink and thumbs up.

"C'mon, Dipdot, give 'em a go!" Mabel cheered. Dipper looked over his shoulder at them again and debated if it was a good idea, but tried anyway.

It took a few goes before they moved, fluttering rapidly and buzzing.

They also lifted him off the ground hips first as he flailed before they sputtered to a halt, letting him drop a foot back towards the ground before he caught himself.

Grunkle Stan cackled. "Really flying by the seat of your pants now, kid," he crowed, slapping his knee and cackling until he choked.

And that was it. The most dramatic change since his eyes and that was the worst he got, save some more ribbing throughout the night, mostly from his sister and Grunkle. (Mabel did call them butt-wings. She also continued to call them adorable. He…really hadn't expected anything else.)

Dipper just hoped his body was done throwing weird changes at him already and went to join the party. It was his first party in four years, and he wasn't going to let a new set of anything stop him from enjoying it.

Maybe he'd get lucky and this would be the last inhuman change his body would spring on him.

—-

(Two years later he'd turn into a star with bat wings and a little top hat after a sneeze fit and it would take three hours to turn back to normal. By that point, he almost figured he'd been due something weird.)


	16. Mabel's Guide to Demon Brothers

Fic Open Season Prompt: Mabel making "Guide to Life"s whenever he gets solid to cheer him up, especially when they still live with their parents. Later, she also makes a Mabel guide to Deals.

* * *

><p>"...Mabel, just because I can go solid sometimes now doesn't mean I'll show up on film."<p>

"Shoosh, Dipdop, we don't know that yet. Hey world, this is Mabel's Guide to Dealing With Your Demon Brother!"

There was a flourish of glitter and Mabel held up her glittered, handmade title card up to the camera.

"So, first step! You need to remember that not everyone can see your brother now!"

"Mabel, no one else got turned into demons by the...the...you know, so who's this supposed to..."

Dipper was cut off as Mabel tossed a sweater over his head, voice muffled as he flailed about, trying to get his head free of the yarn as Mabel chattered.

"At first you might think that just adding lots of sequins and glitter will do the trick, but it disappears right along with him, see? Sweater's gone! Okay, bro-bro, can you go solid now for a kit-kat?"

It shouldn't be possible for someone to take physical form sullenly, but Dipper managed.

"See, sparkly and attention getting, but it doesn't work when he's not solid! Not even the bells!"

Face impassive, Dipper held up an arm and gave it a little shake, setting the bells sewn along the sleeve to jingling.

"See, you never even heard those! Now, we're going to try..."

(Ten years later, the first of the youtube series "Mabel's Updated Guide to Dealing with Demons" would be an internet hit. Especially the episodes where Alcor showed up behind her, goofing off and being silly or just draped over her shoulders like an oversized cat.)

(Dipper would never say how much he appreciated those videos, stored them away and watched them when he needed a reminder of how much he was loved, had been loved, even when the ones who were supposed to love and be there for him and his twin didn't and weren't, when it seemed like the whole world was against him.)


	17. A Chance Encounter

Blame the prompt jar and several silly ideas tossed about on the blog for this. My friend is encouraging me to write a second chapter of this. He's winning.

—-

Beryl Jones crossed her legs and sulked outside the Gravity Falls elementary.

When her parents had announced they were moving to Gravity Falls, she'd thought there would be more excitement. This was where _The Transcendence_ happened, where magic was reborn, it should be more…_magical_ than this.

It was supposed to be the home of Alcor the Dreambender, and the Pines family, and everything else magic, and so far the most magical thing she'd seen had been the gnomes by the edge of the forest, who admittedly were much better groomed and bolder than the ones in their old city.

And now she was stuck picking up her annoying little brother, just like always. She sighed again and kicked a pebble across the playground. He was late, probably to annoy her, like usual.

Finally he came bursting out of the school, chattering rapidly with three other kids – taller than him, red headed, looked like they were siblings.

Brian caught her eye and waved, saying a cheerful goodbye to his new friends and rushing over.

He started chattering almost before he was close enough for her to hear him, and she rolled her eyes as they started walking toward her car (it was a piece of crap but it was the best she could afford on her part time job) but despite her disinterest she caught a few words – 'Pines', 'triplets', and 'Uncle'.

She glanced back in time to see the kids lay a piece of paper down on the ground and chant something while standing around it, and she froze as black smoke billowed out of the paper.

Grabbing Brian, she ducked down behind the small wall that surrounded the elementary school parking lot, keeping him down and out of sight, hushing him irritably when he protested.

Gingerly she peeked back over the wall, and her breath caught in her throat. A demon, a real, honest-to-goodness demon!

She listened to them talk, watched the kids offer candy for a trip home and be accepted, and saw them all disappear in a flash of blue fire before sliding down the wall to sit, panting.

Brian was complaining so she shoved him in the car and drove them home. There was something off about the whole thing, and she thought about it all through dinner, staying home that evening and thinking it through and not quite able to realize just what it was that was teasing her about the encounter.

She locked herself in her room and wrote down everything she could remember, from how the demon looked (very nice, if she remembered correctly. Quite dapper suit, soft looking hair, very easy on the eyes…how the hell was that a demon? Weren't they supposed to have extra eyes or something? Terrifying horrors humans weren't meant to see?) to how the kids had summoned him.

Scraps of the summon they'd used went down in the notebook, and she paused as she remembered the name they'd used to call him…no. No way.

No. Freaking. Way.

Giggling, Beryl threw herself onto her bed, stifling her squeals with the pillow.

She'd have to make sure, but…she saw Alcor! And he was even cuter than the books said! Just wait until she told her friends from back home!

—-

Now that Beryl had seen Alcor once, it seemed like she saw glimpses of him everywhere. Almost always with three tiny, red headed shadows, grabbing his arms or legs and calling him 'Uncle', which she thought odd. How could a demon be an uncle?

But then the kids ran to someone they called 'mom' and Beryl watched with narrow eyes and jealousy gnawing at her stomach as Alcor floated over and hugged the woman as happily as the kids had.

Wait…that meant that woman had to be…she'd actually _seen_ Mizar, and wasn't that going to be something to brag about later, to her friends back at their old home, who had to use their imaginations to picture her!

Still Beryl kept an eye out, listened, and was relieved to find out that Mizar was Alcor's twin sister, not his wife, so there was one thing _Twin Souls_ got wrong.

Though that didn't keep her from re-reading it later, and _Ravished by the Demon King, In the Arms of the Demon King, _and every other Alcor-themed book she could get her hands on. Though it was odd that she had to order them online or through the school library.

She'd thought a library of the paranormal would have had them in stock, but apparently they kept disappearing.

And then she'd seen Mizar's husband, and wow, that man was all height. And freckles. And it was easy to see where the kids got that hair from, and it was a little funny how he towered over both demon and…whatever Mizar was. Beryl wasn't convinced the woman was a demon, but she wasn't fully convinced she was human, either.

But even more than Mizar and her husband she saw Alcor, at the store, at the school, at the diner, and the more often she saw Alcor, usually with a small child hanging from him, the more real he became, rather than the abstract idea _Twin Souls_ had given her.

And the more she saw, the more she wanted, despite knowing she shouldn't, couldn't even bring herself to go up to him and speak to him despite his having a small child hanging off him nearly every time she saw him, without it being obvious she'd been watching them and what demon wanted to know they'd been watched all the time?

…then again, he was a demon, he might find it flattering. And she couldn't stop. And she rather thought he knew she was watching and was maybe even flattered.

She knew she should stop. No matter what he looked like, how gentle he seemed to be with Mizar, and Mizar's husband, and the children, she shouldn't want him like this.

But oh, she wanted, so, so, badly.

—-

Then one of the triplets dropped a paper with a summoning circle on it, the one she had heard the triplets say was supposed to work every time. It was _fate._

Beryl saved up and bought the fanciest outfit she could, one she'd had her eyes on for months but hadn't quite worked up the gumption to go buy. It was _perfect, _just like everything had to be if this was going to work.

She waited for two days after her eighteenth birthday, when her parents were going out of town and taking Brian with them, and she would have the house to herself for the entire weekend.

They trusted her not to have a party or do anything silly while they were gone. Well, she wasn't being silly. She needed to do this.

She lit the candles and, with hands shaking from anticipation and nerves, recited the Latin that would call Alcor to her.

—-

The kids were (finally) in bed when Dipper felt the faint tugs of a summon. It felt like someone outside the family was trying to use the family summoning circle, which was…odd. (Dipper could tell – each person who had the right to use the family summoning circle had their own symbol on it, and whoever was using this one didn't have a symbol on the circle. Plus, the circles were drawn so he'd know it was family summoning him, and bypass other summons for it, and this…didn't feel quite right.)

He shrugged, deciding there was only one way to see who'd gotten their hands on a family circle and how, and went to answer it, coming out of the circle in the swirl of smoke he'd found most effective. "W̗͇̳̳͙̭ͅh̴̘̦̳̰̫̆ͨo̳̲̺͙ͥͭ̒ͯ͢ ̠̯d͔̫͉͚̖̠̃ͧͮ̃ͨͦą̞̤̹̟͈ͯͬ͑r̍ͪ̓ͯ͏ě̱̼͉̙ͦͪ̑͐͡s̟̙ͣͯ͊̈́͞…what?" he said, stopping partway through his introduction to stare blankly at the room he'd been summoned to.

Not a cellar like he'd more than half expected, and no hooded cultists in sight. A frilly, soft bedroom instead, with a white four poster against the wall, the covers already turned down invitingly.

The room was scented lightly with a bouquet of roses set on the bureau, and lit by candles, tall and white and (thankfully) unscented, scattered around the room as well as around the circle.

The soft light glittered across the golden dress his summoner was wearing, one that looked suspiciously similar to the 'seductive' nightgown Pacifica had given Mabel at her bachlorette party (he'd suspected it had been chosen to embarrass her, though Mabel was impossible to embarrass. Her brother, though…). Short, barely covering his summoner's thighs, held up with tiny spaghetti straps and with an equally short and filmy robe over it, it shone in the dim light.

His summoner glanced up at him flirtatiously from under her lashes, blushing softly and smiling.

This…wasn't going to end well, was it?

"Wͭ̐̑ͮh̺̋͒́̐ͣͩ͆͞y ̜͖̮̙ͧͩͦ̔ͣ̚̕h̛̪̑a̫̠̔͒̔v͖̯̖̺͑̃̓̈́͂e̞̝̘̺̐̇̌͋̇̇ ̰͙͉̭̠̆͆͗ͅy̛̹̠͖͔ͅoͫͯ̉́҉̼͙u͍͜ ̮̗̤̔ͯ̽͊͒ͦsͥ̈̈́͏ů̥̭̼̏ͅm̭͈̗̈̿m͓͙͐ͬ̈̈́̊͠o̳̤̰͙͇͔̊̒͗̓̍͂̎͘n̿͋͐͛ͩ͛͌e̶̼̬̫͚ḏ͕̩̗̻̬ͭ͆̚͞ ̃͗ͦ̃͊̉͢m̧̥̫̠̈́͛̆e̫̘͖?͇̻̹̬̙̼̙ͭ̓̆̍͒̏ͣ " he asked, hoping he was wrong and adding a little extra demonic reverb to his voice to be extra discouraging, already mentally flailing and hoping against hope that he wasn't blushing yet. (Unlikely, it was almost laughably easy to make him blush despite the whole demon thing and he could feel the heat traveling across his face and ears and down his neck already.)

His summoner stepped closer to the circle, the edge of the robe slipping off her shoulder as she looked up at him with what she obviously believed to be smoldering eyes.

"Lord Alcor, I have called you here that I may humbly serve you and satisfy your desires," she said, and Dipper tried to stay impassive even as he freaked out inwardly and went even redder.

She dropped the robe to the floor as she stepped closer, not noticing Dipper stepping backwards as she reached for him, pressing against Dipper's chest and gripping his lapels, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. (Dipper was flailing too hard inwardly to stop her, his brain having nearly shut down over it all and giving her an opportunity that she took without realizing just why he hadn't stopped her.)

"It's my first time," she whispered, her arms coming up to twine around Dipper's neck and pressing closer to him. "Be gentle with me, my Lord."

Going to tiptoe, she pressed her lips against the unresponsive Dipper's, and the shock to his system finally kicked his brain back on. In a flash he noped out of there, leaving the girl alone in her room with empty arms.

—

Dipper landed on the couch in the Shack with a thump – the summoning would help him stay corporeal for a bit – and stared blankly at the ceiling in shock, still waiting for his brain to reboot and so bright red it almost hurt.

Did that…really just happen? Did someone seriously just summon him to have him…have him ravish them?

He made a face, feeling nausea being to pool in his stomach as he scrubbed at his lips. Why the _hell_ would someone summon him for…for that?

That was it, he was going to blame those awful novels that had been circulating lately. No way was he telling Mabel about this, though. She'd just laugh, maybe suggest he should have stuck around and given the girl a lecture or something.

Still feeling weirded out and more than a little nauseated now, Dipper grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it, letting out a frustrated scream.

Did. Not. Want.


	18. An Introduction to Dipnip

The prompt jar said 'cat', so of course I had to write about the first time Mabel saw Dipper high off dipnip.

* * *

><p>Mabel flipped through her book, looking at the pages without really seeing them.<p>

Dipper had gotten pulled away from the Shack right in the middle of the two of them helping Grunkle Stan as he turned it into a Library by a summons, and despite everything Mabel was worried.

It seemed like Dipper was getting summoned more and more often, like the whole...thing...had made people aware of demons and spawned a million cults and they all were summoning demons left and right and this couldn't be good for Dipper's mental health.

Last time he'd been summoned he'd gone into sweater town for two days.

As if she'd called him with her thoughts alone, Mabel's brother blipped into existence above the recliner she was sprawled out in, belly flopping down onto her and knockin an "Ooomph" out of both of them.

"Ow, bro, you're heavy," Mabel complained, covering her relief. Letting Dipper know just how worried she was over him at times would just make him worry, and letting Dipper worry about this sort of thing started a downward spiral that lead to hiding in the Mindscape or forks and golden blood.

Dipper just gave a little groan, curling into her lap and making the chair creak in protest.

"Oh, hey, you're solid! That's great!" Mabel said happily, before sniffing. "Aaaand you smell funky. Maybe you should try, yanno, showering?"

"Why?" Dipper groaned from where his face was mashed into Mabel's stomach. "It'll all go 'way in th' Mindscape an'way. Ugh, m' head feels funny."

Curious and more than a little worried – because what happened on that summons that Dipper wasn't feeling right, he was a demon, they didn't get sick but he was slurring his words – Mabel took another sniff of her brother.

He smelled...sort of smokey, and kind of sweet, in a sort of overly, almost sickly sweet, way. "Dipper, what exactly happened at that summons?"

Dipper yawned, widely, wider than usual, his mouth opening farther than a human's physically could, suddenly forked tongue (it hadn't been forked before he'd gone to the summons just great was that something else that was going to happen to her brother now?) flickering out for a moment. "Um...they were burnin' somethin'..." he said sleepily. "Ac'ually smelled kinda good..."

O...kay, that was weird, Mabel thought. Dipper hated scented stuff, worse now that he was a demon than he had before, be it candles or incense or anything artificially scented.

She tapped her brother on the head. "C'mon, dippin dot, you're supposed to be all knowy now. What were they burning and what'd it do?"

Dipper didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the point of light on the other wall reflecting off Mabel's earring. She gave her head a little shake, the light dropping to the tabletop by their chair and biting back giggles as her brother batted at the dancing spot with balled hands.

"Dipper, are you high?" she asked, keeping the worry tucked away and giggling at the indignant look on her brother's face.

"Demons 'n't 'ffected by human drugs," he said, the indignation cutting though his muddled state – which was progressively getting worse – enough for him to respond coherently. Mostly. "Wuz...was...Yggdrasil..." he said around another huge yawn, eyes drooping.

Mabel stared as her brother curled up until he was completely on top of her, balled hands kneading at her upper chest once he'd gotten comfortable. Apparently satisfied, he dropped his head to his crossed hands and nuzzled close, hair tickling Mabel's chin as he rubbed his cheek on her sweater clad shoulder.

Even if she was confused and worried over her brother, Mabel still bit back a giggle at his sleepy, cuddly, and downright adorable (though he'd protest ever being called adorable) antics. Dipper always got cuddly when he was over tired, warm, and on the very edge of sleep. And he had good reason to be over tired lately, worrying about and blaming himself for every little thing, even if it was better now that they were back home in Gravity Falls – and, apparently, drugged into compliance.

Smiling, Mabel freed a hand from under her brother, ignoring Dipper's protesting growl as he was jostled by her wiggling to stroke at his hair. He might be high or somehow messed up by that smoke, but at least he was actually resting for once. Getting Dipper to rest was an unwinnable battle when he didn't feel like it.

Unless you knew the little tricks – like running fingers through a tired Dipper's hair. Knocked him right out every time.

Then Dipper started making a strange rumbling noise, loud and hard enough to vibrate the chair they were in, and Mabel froze in surprise.

A single gold on black eye opened a sliver, the rumbling stopping as Dipper let out a discontented little mewing noise.

Smothering another laugh, since her brother was actually almost asleep for once, Mabel started moving her hand again, tossing in some gentle scratching and unable to quite hold back a laugh as Dipper moved his head into the scritches, the rumbling starting up again stronger than before.

"Dippy-cat," she laughed softly, giving an extra scratch when Dipper didn't protest the nickname. Honestly, he was so out of it she doubted he even realized she was teasing him

Mabel leaned back in the recliner, starting to feel sleepy herself from her brother's warmth and rumbling purr.

A little nap wouldn't hurt. And later she could add notes to Dipper's journal about Yggdrasil and its effect on her brother.

If it always made him act like this, she thought she just might call it 'Dipnip'.


	19. Don't Mention the Suit

Mabel has a journal where she wrote all the Things Not To Say To Dipper. She gave a copy to Stan when they moved to Gravity Falls and one to Henry. Stan still managed to fuck up once as he asked him "Since when do you have a great taste in clothing?" Dipper moped for a week.

* * *

><p>Stan grumbled, sitting down at the tiny metal table in the Shack-being-turned-to-Library's kitchen. The notebook sitting innocently in front of him on the table was covered in five kinds of glitter and about half a dozen stickers, not counting the five different alphabet styles of sticker that spelled out "<em>Dealing With My Demon Brother: A Guide By Mabel Pines<em>" across the cover.

Mabel had shoved the thing at him about a week after they'd come to stay the first summer after it all went down, and been updating it constantly since then from her own well-worn copy every time they came back.

He hadn't bothered to do more than flip through it once since she'd pushed it on him, since it seemed mostly like regular Dipper things. And he knew how to deal with demons, somewhat. So why bother with a guide?

Besides, it was _Dipper_. Demon or not, corporeal or not, he was still the sweaty and awkward kid Stan knew, and if he got out of line Stan had a squirt bottle of diluted holy water on hand. (He wanted to discourage the kid, not hurt him. He was a conman and a liar but dammit he still loved those kids, so squirting Dipper? Sure, that was funny. Hurting Dipper, not so much. So, diluted. Not that he could tell always tell when he hit Dipper, apart from whatever Dipper was trying to move falling to the floor as he lost his grip. Still funny.)

He still wouldn't have opened it if Mabel hadn't found it and given him the mix of disappointed and pleading eyes that even this old man couldn't resist, hardened as he was to just about everything else.

Apparently, now that they were living with Stan on a permanent basis, he needed to know the ups and downs of living with a demonic Dipper.

He still figured it wasn't much different than living with a regular Dipper, but eh, apparently Dipper was 'getting control of his powers' or 'going through demonic puberty' or something.

The kid had had three years to get things down, Stan would hope the kid had started to figure things out by now.

Then again, if this meant the kids felt better after the meltdown that was the relationship between themselves and their parents...

Well, Stan would suffer through glitter and stickers for that, it looked like. Could've been worse.

Had been worse.

Three days later and Stan was left blinking at the space where Dipper had been actually corporal for once only seconds before. Mabel watched as her invisible brother shot through the ceiling up towards their old room in the attic before turning sad eyes on her Grunkle.

"Grunkle Stan," she said reproachfully, "Didn't you read the guide I gave you?"

"I read it. Your Grunkle's old, sweetie," he grunted defensively. "I can't remember everything."

"It's right on page ten," Mabel said, grabbing the book from where Stan had left it on the counter and flipping though it. "See? 'Things Not To Say To Dipper'. 'Don't mention the suit. He's worried he looks like Bill, and it makes him wonder how much of Bill is in him now.'"

Stan winced and hid it. Of course the kid would worry about something like that. It was a legitimate enough worry, really. And this was Dipper, kid could find something to worry about in everything.

Aaand now Mabel was watching him with those big eyes, the ones that shouldn't work anymore but instead seemed to get more effective (probably because she was saving them up for special occasions) and Stan groaned.

"Fine," he half heartedly growled, shoving away from the table, "I'll go...I dunno, poke him or somethin'." He slouched his way out of the kitchen to the stairs, pretending not to hear Mabel's demand of "Apologize!"

The attic bedroom looked empty, though Stan was pretty sure Dipper was in there. Mopey demon, he was realizing, left a feel to the air, like rain that hadn't let up for a week, a heaviness that was hard to shake off.

Huh. Mopey demon. Only Dipper could manage that.

Stan sat down on the end of Dipper's bed, silently hoping Dipper was closer to the head and he wasn't actually sitting on his great nephew.

The silence in the attic grew more awkward by the minute until Stan finally coughed into his hand. "Uh...you still up here kid?" he asked. There was no answer and he rolled his eyes. "Right. Mindscape. Can't hear you. So, uh..."

The silence grew again as Stan rubbed at the back of his neck. "Kinda awkward talkin' to thin air here, kid. Not even sure if you're up here, really."

A pillow was tossed at him and Stan grunted as it impacted with his head, knocking off his fez.

"Guess so. Fair enough," he grunted. "Ah, look. You're too damn stubborn for your own good, kid. To stubborn to let Bill take you over now that he's gone."

There was more awkward silence, though Stan fancied he could almost make out Dipper saying something – probably something sarcastic.

The 'hearing-Dipper-aids' were apparently coming along better than they'd thought.

Stan grunted again. Talking to Dipper was hard enough when he could hear what the kid said back, this was just ridiculous. And awkward.

So a bit like Dipper all the time, really.

"Look, kid, I don't know why you changed how you look. It was about time anyway."

A pen on the desk lifted and scribbled on a scrap of paper, faltering more than once. It was more than a little creepy, in Stan's opinion, but if the kid couldn't be corporal enough to talk to...well, at least he was managing some kind of communication. Apparently it took a lot out of the kid to do this much, so for once Stan was going to keep his commentary to himself.

The note that got tossed at Stan was scribbly and hard to understand, and it was pretty obvious Dipper hadn't quite gotten than hang of holding onto physical objects yet when he himself wasn't corporeal.

"...what is that, a fish? Oh, wait, it's a...p? Yeah, so that's a..." Stan muttered, turning the paper around and around in his hands. "You...wanted to...cook? No, look...professional? Huh. Well, it's better than the shorts."

The feeling of mopey demon grew heavier in the air, and Stan rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, kid, it's just clothes. They change. You look fine. Besides, it's not like that isosceles jackass wore clothes. If you were going for his look it'd be a bow tie and top hat and nothing else." Stan paused before adding, "Don't do that, by the way. You do that and ...I'll get your sister to bedazzle the journals," he said, swapping it for his initial threat of 'you're dead to me'.

Stan may not have been the most sensitive of people (see reason for current situation) but even he could see the line. Usually just in time to go racing over it, but he saw them.

The air in the attic lightened somewhat, so apparently it was the right thing to say.

"Heck, I wear suits too. Gets the customers to trust you."

The pen skittered across the paper again, messier than before but a shorter message – 'I know :)'.

Stan would never admit to anyone just what that little scribble meant to him. "You imitating your old grunkle now, kid?" he teased instead. "What's next, you gonna try and get me to teach you how to con people?"

'Yes.'

Stan stared in quiet shock at the simple note in his hand. Of the twins, he'd always thought, if either of them were to follow in his conniving footsteps, it would be Mabel, not the easily flustered, can't lie to save his life Dipper.

A slow, evil grin spread over his face, a grin of pure, spiteful glee. If there was anyone to teach a demon how to make a deal, then it was him. By the time he was done, cultists would rue the day they tried to cheat his kids.

"Okay, kid, pay attention. Let's start with the basics. First thing, you gotta get 'em to trust you, think you know what you're doing. That's what the suit's for. Look professional, snappy, it's all in the image. Now, next thing you gotta do..."


	20. A Chance Encounter Part 2

Note - There's an attempt at what amounts to date-rape in this one. It doesn't succeed, but it still reads as that.

* * *

><p>Back in her room, Beryl stared in disbelief at the empty circle and the distinct lack of demon, who'd been solid in her arms just seconds ago. No, no, no! Why'd he leave?<p>

Was it her? Did she...?

No, something went wrong, it had to be that! She's quoted _Ravished by the Demon King_, she'd used the right circle, done the right incantation...she must have needed a better sacrifice, so he could stay with her longer. Or he'd had a more powerful summons drag him away. That had to be it.

Or...maybe he was used to summoners trying to seduce him. She'd have to step up her game.

Besides, if he's wanted her to stop, well...he was a demon. He could have let her know she was unwanted easily enough!

She rubbed her arms, biting her lip as she remembered the feel of him under her hands, so solid and warm, and the feel of his mouth on hers, brief as it had been.

No, she wasn't going to give up until she got a good, proper taste of all of him.

Mabel had found out what happened, of course. Mabel always found out, somehow. (Then again, it had taken a while to recover from the whole thing and try to forget it. There was no such thing as demonic brain bleach, and drinking wouldn't get rid of the memory for Dipper. At least she waited until he recovered before teasing him about it and making light of the whole thing.)

"It _wasn't funny_, Mabel," Dipper repeated again, well aware that it was a chorus he had to repeat far too often for a demon.

"But _Dipper_," she laughed, skipping ahead of him to turn and walk backwards so she could see him. "She had _roses._ And _candlelight_. It was so _romantic,_" she teased, fluttering her lashes.

Dipper groaned, fighting back a wave of faint nausea and irritation. "I don't know why I tell you anything..." he muttered, even as part of him knew exactly why. Louder, he said, "It was a week ago, can we just drop it already?"

Mabel pretended to think for a minute before chirping, "Nope!" She grinned brightly as Dipper groaned.

"I'll just be happy if it never happens again," Dipper muttered. Mabel laughed again, patting her brother's shoulder sympathetically.

At least whoever was summoning him this time had the decency to wait until after the kids were in bed. Triplets at bedtime needed all hands on deck, especially when they didn't particularly want to go to bed.

Not that his summoner would know that, but hey, call him five minutes earlier and he'd have been ready to screw them over as quickly as possible just so he could get out of there and back to the kids.

He took a deep breath as he formed inside the smoke, ready to boom out his usual entrance, and froze as he smelled roses.

A glance down at his feet found the scent was coming from a star made of roses instead of chalk inside the summoning circle.

Wait...not just a summoning circle, a _binding_ circle too. One that he could break pretty easily, but it would take a half a minute at the very least. It felt, vaguely, as if the intention was to keep him from being called away from this summon rather than to force him to stay, but any binding circle was bad news.

Heart sinking, he slowly raised his head to look around, finding himself in the same bedroom as a week ago.

His summoner reclined on her bed, back in the gold nightgown and robe, propped up on one hand. There was a bowl schaped incense burner on the nightstand by her bed filled with something dried and dully green, and she leaned over to touch a match to it, setting it to smoking.

"Hello again, my Lord," she said. "Our rendezvous was cut tragically short the last time. I'm hoping my summoning has pleased you more this time, and that the second circle will help you to stay."

Oh, _poop_. "Look, I don't know why you're trying this, but...is that Yggdrasil herb you're burning?"

She smiled, and oh noooo now she was trying for seductive or smoldering or something but it wasn't right make it _stooop no do not want._

"The book said you liked it," she said, and the emphasis she put on 'liked' made Dipper's stomach turn with nerves and dread. "And it made you...excited."

Okay really not okay with all of this what the hell was she even thinking? Dipper fumbled for words, silently grabbing the weak points in the binding circle and beginning to unravel it so he could get the heck out of Dodge. "So you were going to try and drug me? And then..." he faltered, suddenly unable to say the words, to put a name to what she'd tried to do and didn't even seem to realize the full impact of.

He had to force the next words out over the little voice in his head that demanded he make her p͜a̕y͏ for what she'd tried to do, try and make her understand, "Do you _even_ have any idea how horrible that is? What you were...and going after a demon on top of that?"

It was getting hard to talk, since talking required air, and breathing meant taking in the smoke that was getting thicker by the minute, and he could feel the vague tingling in his hands and feet that meant it was starting to effect him.

Not good. Not good at all. He had to get out of here, before it really got to him! Mabel had teased him about it often enough for him to know just what he was like once he was high, and he was _not_ going to let this...this kid take advantage of him while he was out of it!

While Alcor was talking, Beryl slid off the bed and walked silently to stand in front of him, separated only by the very edge of the circle, clasping her hands behind her back and looking at him with starry eyes.

She wanted to press against him again, see how far he would let her go this time, but she was waiting for the Yggdrasil to (hopefully) lower his barriers a little, at the least. She just hoped that this time maybe, just maybe, she might actually get a bit more than just a brief taste.

He really didn't seem happy about the Yggdrasil, though. A bit panicked, actually. Well, maybe that meant it _was_ working, and he was worried over it.

His eyes had gone strange, the gold so wide it looked close to taking over his whole eye, and she stepped closer, both to see his eyes closer and to test how close he'd let her come.

Alcor actually looked a bit high, curling around himself a little, and she was really starting to wonder if the Yggdrasil was such a good idea after all. Suddenly feeling bold, Beryl reached across the circle and brushed her hand over the demon's cheek, a bit of his hair slipping across her fingers.

It was even softer than it looked, a feat she hadn't thought possible. He jerked away at her touch, looking up at her with wide, shocked eyes.

His mouth worked for a moment as she leaned closer. "Why do you keep doing this? This is the most outrageous...you have to stop! And the Yggdrasil, I don't even..."

He kept lecturing, but it was rambling and unfocused, and she stopped listening to the words, letting the sound of his voice wash over her instead. More sure of herself, Beryl stepped inside the circle to cup his face.

His skin was warm under her hands, his lecture cut off at her touch. Remembering how he'd disappeared out from under her hands last time when she'd taken things slow, she lunged forward, pressing her mouth to his and burying her hands in his hair the way she'd dreamed of since that first failed summon.

He jerked as if to pull away, though her hands in his hair kept him close. She presses closer, harder, determined to have at least this taste of him.

The Yggdrasil made the room spin oddly, made Dipper's head swim, and he knew he'd been speaking though he couldn't say what he'd been saying.

But now there was someone touching him, and he stared at them but he didn't know them, they didn't smell right, they weren't _his_, but they were touching him like he was theirs, but that couldn't be right.

And now there were lips on his and hands in his hair and no no _no_ only family was allowed to touch him, touch his hair but when he tried to jerk away they just held tighter and he was _not _taking this...this person home with him _no_.

Somehow, despite his hands feeling like he was wearing heavy mitts over them, he managed to get a hold on the hands in his hair and pull them away, and it felt vaguely like he lost some hair to those grasping fingers but they were off him and that was all that mattered. As soon as he was clear he fled, blipping out of there and landing with a soft 'oof' on the carpet in the Shack's living room.

Henry jumped when Dipper suddenly appeared in the living room and dropped to the floor on all fours.

Dipper was shaking his head, and his eyes were blown huge when he looked up at Henry, who sighed. Dipnip again.

Even with his experience of a doped up Dipper, he wasn't expecting Dipper to launch himself into his lap, whining and burying his face in Henry's stomach and curling up as tightly as he could around Henry.

He sounded like a kitten, really, a distressed one at that, so Henry hesitantly started stroking Dipper's hair. Dipper froze at the first touch before curling closer to Henry, still making that whining noise interlaced with little mews that sounded like he was trying to tell Henry something until the stroking got to him, slowly going limp across Henry's lap. (Mabel had given Henry that little hint before, about playing with Dipper's hair to knock him out. He was trying not to abuse it, but when Dipper sounded like that...)

Dipper could tell him everything once he was back to normal. For now, Henry didn't know why Dipper needed comforted, but he did, so it looked like he was going to be staying on the couch petting his brother like a cat for awhile.

Good thing he went to the bathroom before he sat down this time.

* * *

><p>AN: My friend kept coming up with more ideas for this particular storyline until I gave in and started writing it, as it was too funny not to. It's looking to be four parts long in total, unless we get more ideas (or someone else does.)


	21. A Chance Encounter Part 2: Alternate Ver

_Alternate version of Part 2 that I came up with after I'd posted the first, where things go down a bit differently. Changes take place about 3/4 though the fic._

* * *

><p>Back in her room, Beryl stared in disbelief at the empty circle and the distinct lack of demon, who'd been solid in her arms just seconds ago. No, no, no! Why'd he leave?<p>

Was it her? Did she…?

No, something went wrong, it had to be that! She's quoted _Ravished by the Demon King_, she'd used the right circle, done the right incantation…she must have needed a better sacrifice, so he could stay with her longer. Or he'd had a more powerful summons drag him away. That had to be it.

Or…maybe he was used to summoners trying to seduce him. She'd have to step up her game.

Besides, if he's wanted her to stop, well…he was a demon. He could have let her know she was unwanted easily enough!

She rubbed her arms, biting her lip as she remembered the feel of him under her hands, so solid and warm, and the feel of his mouth on hers, brief as it had been.

No, she wasn't going to give up until she got a good, proper taste of all of him.

* * *

><p>Mabel had found out what happened, of course. Mabel always found out, somehow. (Then again, it had taken a while to recover from the whole thing and try to forget it. There was no such thing as demonic brain bleach, and drinking wouldn't get rid of the memory for Dipper. At least she waited until he recovered before teasing him about it and making light of the whole thing.)<p>

"It _wasn't funny_, Mabel," Dipper repeated again, well aware that it was a chorus he had to repeat far too often for a demon.

"But _Dipper_," she laughed, skipping ahead of him to turn and walk backwards so she could see him. "She had _roses._ And _candlelight_. It was so _romantic,_" she teased, fluttering her lashes.

Dipper groaned, fighting back a wave of faint nausea and irritation. "I don't know why I tell you anything…" he muttered, even as part of him knew exactly why. Louder, he said, "It was a week ago, can we just drop it already?"

Mabel pretended to think for a minute before chirping, "Nope!" She grinned brightly as Dipper groaned.

"I'll just be happy if it never happens again," Dipper muttered. Mabel laughed again, patting her brother's shoulder sympathetically.

* * *

><p>At least whoever was summoning him this time had the decency to wait until after the kids were in bed. Triplets at bedtime needed all hands on deck, especially when they didn't particularly want to go to bed.<p>

Not that his summoner would know that, but hey, call him five minutes earlier and he'd have been ready to screw them over as quickly as possible just so he could get out of there and back to the kids.

He took a deep breath as he formed inside the smoke, ready to boom out his usual entrance, and froze as he smelled roses.

A glance down at his feet found the scent was coming from a star made of roses instead of chalk inside the summoning circle.

Wait…not just a summoning circle, a _binding_ circle too. One that he could break pretty easily, but it would take a half a minute at the very least. It felt, vaguely, as if the intention was to keep him from being called away from this summon rather than to force him to stay, but any binding circle was bad news.

Heart sinking, he slowly raised his head to look around, finding himself in the same bedroom as a week ago.

His summoner reclined on her bed, back in the gold nightgown and robe, propped up on one hand. There was a bowl schaped incense burner on the nightstand by her bed filled with something dried and dully green, and she leaned over to touch a match to it, setting it to smoking.

"Hello again, my Lord," she said. "Our rendezvous was cut tragically short the last time. I'm hoping my summoning has pleased you more this time, and that the second circle will help you to stay."

Oh, _poop_. "Look, I don't know why you're trying this, but…is that Yggdrasil herb you're burning?"

She smiled, and oh noooo now she was trying for seductive or smoldering or something but it wasn't right make it _stooop no do not want._

"The book said you liked it," she said, and the emphasis she put on 'liked' made Dipper's stomach turn with nerves and dread. "And it made you…excited."

Okay really not okay with all of this what the hell was she even thinking? Dipper fumbled for words, silently grabbing the weak points in the binding circle and beginning to unravel it so he could get the heck out of Dodge. "So you were going to try and drug me? And then…" he faltered, suddenly unable to say the words, to put a name to what she'd tried to do and didn't even seem to realize the full impact of.

He had to force the next words out over the little voice in his head that demanded he make her p͜a̕y͏ for what she'd tried to do, try and make her understand, "Do you _even_ have any idea how horrible that is? What you were…and going after a demon on top of that?"

It was getting hard to talk, since talking required air, and breathing meant taking in the smoke that was getting thicker by the minute, and he could feel the vague tingling in his hands and feet that meant it was starting to effect him.

Not good. Not good at all. He had to get out of here, before it really got to him! Mabel had teased him about it often enough for him to know just what he was like once he was high, and he was _not_ going to let this…this kid take advantage of him while he was out of it!

* * *

><p>While Alcor was talking, Beryl slid off the bed and walked silently to stand in front of him, separated only by the very edge of the circle, clasping her hands behind her back and looking at him with starry eyes.<p>

She wanted to press against him again, see how far he would let her go this time, but she was waiting for the Yggdrasil to (hopefully) lower his barriers a little, at the least. She just hoped that this time maybe, just maybe, she might actually get a bit more than just a brief taste.

He really didn't seem happy about the Yggdrasil, though. A bit panicked, actually. Well, maybe that meant it _was_ working, and he was worried over it.

His eyes had gone strange, the gold so wide it looked close to taking over his whole eye, and she stepped closer, both to see his eyes closer and to test how close he'd let her come.

Alcor actually looked a bit high, curling around himself a little, and she was really starting to wonder if the Yggdrasil was such a good idea after all. Suddenly feeling bold, Beryl reached across the circle and brushed her hand over the demon's cheek, a bit of his hair slipping across her fingers.

It was even softer than it looked, a feat she hadn't thought possible. He jerked away at her touch, looking up at her with wide, shocked eyes.

His mouth worked for a moment as she leaned closer. "Why do you keep doing this? This is the most outrageous…you have to stop! And the Yggdrasil, I don't even…"

He kept lecturing, but it was rambling and unfocused, and she stopped listening to the words, letting the sound of his voice wash over her instead. More sure of herself, Beryl stepped inside the circle to cup his face, running her fingers over his lips, and his lecturing sputtered to a stop.

She smiled at him invitingly, stepping back out of the circle and towards the bed. Gesturing, she coaxed him to follow, sitting on the edge and patting it invitingly. "Come, the bed is soft, and I long for you."

Dipper stared at her blankly, ears twitching as he gaped, the Yggdrasil making it hard to understand her. But the bed _did_ look really, really soft…

* * *

><p>Beryl gasped with joy when Alcor jumped onto her bed, but it turned to confusion when, instead of falling on her as she expected, he curled into a ball at the foot of it, kneading at the covers like a giant cat.<p>

Maybe the book was wrong about the Yggdrasil…? Cautiously she reached out to touch, brushing her hand over his hair.

He opened one eye, and she bent closer, unsure what she was going to do now, her hand still tangled in his hair.

Apparently, he didn't appreciate that. She leaped away with a yelp as he hissed, a sudden, catlike noise no human throat could make. Missing her landing, she fell to the floor with a thump.

Alcor looked at her over the side of the bed, head cocked to the side as he considered her. She reached for him again, unsure if she was trying to calm him or what she was thinking, and his eyes narrowed.

Giving another little hiss and an irritated huff, he disappeared without so much as a puff of smoke, and she beat a fist against the floor.

The book lied, damn it!

* * *

><p>Henry jumped when Dipper suddenly appeared in the living room and dropped to the floor on all fours.<p>

Dipper was shaking his head, and his eyes were blown huge when he looked up at Henry, who sighed. Dipnip again.

Even with his experience of a doped up Dipper, he wasn't expecting Dipper to launch himself into his lap, whining and burying his face in Henry's stomach and curling up as tightly as he could around Henry.

He sounded like a kitten, really, a distressed one at that, so Henry hesitantly started stroking Dipper's hair. Dipper froze at the first touch before curling closer to Henry, still making that whining noise interlaced with little mews that sounded like he was trying to tell Henry something until the stroking got to him, slowly going limp across Henry's lap. (Mabel had given Henry that little hint before, about playing with Dipper's hair to knock him out. He was trying not to abuse it, but when Dipper sounded like that…)

Dipper could tell him everything once he was back to normal. For now, Henry didn't know why Dipper needed comforted, but he did, so it looked like he was going to be staying on the couch petting his brother like a cat for awhile.

Good thing he went to the bathroom before he sat down this time.


	22. Have I Told You Lately

If there was one thing people remembered about Henry Pines (nee Corduroy, and he never thought he'd be so happy to leave that name behind as he was) was just how hard it was to get him to lose his temper.

So anyone who could have seen him right now, clutching the bar of his shopping cart so hard his knuckles were turning white, seething silently, might have had trouble recognizing him.

Part of him was trying to be reasonable about this. The people who'd gotten him so angry had no idea they were saying anything wrong, and he could see where they were coming from. Really, he could.

But...they were talking about Dipper. Mabel's beloved twin brother, his brother in law, the goober that was more family to him that the people he shared blood with.

"...utterly terrifying! What can they be thinking? And it's around children, all the time!"

"Apparently it was around before the Transcendence, that's why so many people around here trust it."

"I just don't know if I can," the first voice said, and it sounded like they were walking away. "I mean, it seems nice enough now, but it's still a demon, you know? Who knows what could make it turn on us! We're looking into moving..."

Dipper wasn't an 'it', dammit! Henry took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

He did the rest of the shopping on autopilot, and was vaguely surprised to find he'd bought extra candy, two bags of Dipper's favorites.

Well, fine then. Dipper didn't have to know why Henry felt like indulging him this once.

His mind was still turning and prodding at the conversation as he drove home, trying to figure out just why it bothered him so much. Gravity Falls was the twins' home, their safe space, where they could be themselves, so maybe that was it?

It finally came to him as he parked the truck, and he sat there, staring into the woods surrounding the Library silently.

He'd never known Dipper as a human, but he still couldn't think of him as a demon. He'd know it was true, that Dipper was technically dead and a demon, but he'd always been more Mabel's brother than a terrifying demon.

Sure Henry had done research, and Dipper had done some pretty awful things as Alcor, but...he was still Dipper. He was the goober who snitched candy from the library jack-o-lantern, got himself stuck halfway through walls, sang a ridiculously goofy song about lambs to the kids, more than the demon who did those horrible things. They could trust him, even when he didn't trust himself.

Those people had no right to judge him when they'd never so much as met him, not here, not in this town that was supposed to be their refuge.

Henry unloaded the truck in silent turmoil, thoughts still running about his head in a confused scramble, trying to fit Dipper-his-brother with the Dipper the people in the grocery store were afraid of turning on them.

Dipper blipped into the kitchen as Henry brought in the last bags, immediately looking into the once holding the candy. "Ooo, candy? Whoa, you bought a lot this time. You planning something?"

Henry stopped, just looking at Dipper, taking in every detail of his appearance, from how similar to Mabel he looked to how demonic he looked. From soft brown hair to gold on black eyes, lopsided grin to shark teeth, everything he'd just come to think of as 'Dipper'.

Dipper paused in rummaging through the bag of candy, looking at Henry with concern as he kept staring. "Um...is everything okay...?"

It took Henry two strides to cross the kitchen. Dipper meeped in surprise as Henry suddenly pulled him into his arms, hugging him close. Dipper's arms hesitantly came up around Henry to return the hug as the taller man tucked the demon's head under his chin and stroked his hair, feeling Dipper relax into the hug after the first startled stiffness.

Another set of arms snuck around them, and Henry cracked open an eye to find Mabel grinning at him, pressed against Dipper's back. She gave them a little shove to start them swaying, and Henry felt Dipper laughing against his chest.

It didn't matter what they said. He knew the truth, and so did Mabel, and Stan, and the kids, and the rest of their strange, adopted family. And right now Dipper was warm and solid in his arms, happy if a bit confused, and he and Mabel were laughing, and nothing else mattered.


	23. Flowers

Prompt jar + Valentines = ficlet.

* * *

><p>Most of Dipper's 'info dumps', as Henry had aptly named them, were,in a word, traumatizing. More often then not they ended with Dipper staring at the wall or into space as the walls dripped with slime or, occasionally, blood. Sometimes they ended with him retreating into the Mindscape for days at a time, or curling around family and refusing to let go for hours on end, shivering and gripping them so tightly it bruised.<p>

But then, once in a while, the universe decided to be kind, and the info dump was more of a gentle trickle, a sudden understanding, information that was joyful or gentle.

And standing outside the _Game of Thorns_ two days before Valentine's, the information that the universe decided to grant Dipper Pines was welcome indeed.

On Valentine's morning, there was a pink carnation on Henry's plate, and on Mabel's, and Stan's. There was a pair on the stoop of Soos and Melody's house, one waiting for Candy and one for Grenda, on Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland's desks, outside Lazy Susan's house, waiting on the table in Pacifica's apartment, tucked into the straps of Wendy's backpack, and outside a dozen other homes waiting for the inhabitants to wake and find their gifts.

(For in the language of flowers, a pink carnation means "I will never forget you.")

(Centuries later, they said Alcor dwelt in the woods outside Gravity Falls. His home is in a cabin surrounded by pine trees and pink carnations, and they fill Gravity Falls. They say the ones he has planted each stand for someone or something important to him that he refuses to forget.)


End file.
